EXPERIENCE WITH CONTINUOUS NONINVASIVE FINGER BLOOD-PRESSURE MONITORING - A NEW RESEARCH TOOL

The accuracy of the finger pressure device developed by Penaz and Wesseling in monitoring beat-by-beat blood pressure changes was evaluated against simultaneous intra-arterial monitoring at rest, under laboratory tests known to induce vasoconstriction or vasodilation (FINAPRES) and in ambulatory conditions (PORTAPRES). The results of these studies show that, even if intra-arterial and finger blood pressure values are not identical, the changes in the former are faithfully reproduced by changes in the latter. This is the case also with manoeuvres which might increase peripheral vasomotor tone and thus, in theory, increase the pressure gradient between more proximal and more peripheral arteries. The computer analysis of finger pressure recordings leads to a quantification of overall blood pressure variability (standard deviation) and of its spectral components which is similar to that obtained by analysing intra-arterial tracings. A partial exception is represented by the standard deviation of intra-arterial systolic blood pressure and by its frequency components between 0.025 and 0.14 Hz which are systematically overestimated by considering the finger blood pressure signal. In this paper the results obtained by employing finger blood pressure recording in the quantification of beat-to-beat blood pressure changes in different experimental conditions will be briefly summarized. In particular the following issues will be described: 1) the blood pressure reactivity to laboratory stressors and the degree of spontaneous blood pressure variability in offsprings of hypertensive parents, 2) the blood pressure changes induced by cigarette smoking and 3) the adoption of the Finapres device in the dynamic non-invasive assessment of radial artery compliance by a new echo-tracking device.