Dries Mahieu

TL;DR: It is concluded that, in healthy middle-aged subjects, the central-to-radial amplification of the pressure pulse is substantial, higher in men than in women, decreases with age, and is primarily associated with the carotid augmentation index.

TL;DR: The tape measure distance from carotid to femoral artery, multiplied by 0.8, corresponds best with the real travelled aortic path length, which is moderately (yet statistically significantly) influenced by age and minimally by BMI.

TL;DR: Some of the most widely applied methods to non-invasively assess pressure wave reflection (augmentation index) and arterial stiffness (pulse wave velocity) in clinical vascular research are revised.

TL;DR: Until more precise estimation methods become available, it is advisable to use 40% of brachial pulse pressure instead of 33% to assess MAP, and both carotid artery SBP and central SBP obtained via a transfer function are highly sensitive to the calibration of the respective carotids artery and radial artery pressure waveforms.

TL;DR: It is recommended to stick to one technique on both the brachial and the carotid artery, either tonometry or distension, when assessing carotids blood pressure non-invasively.