Assessment of Disparity in the Blood Pressure of Both Arms

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Inter-arm blood pressure differences of more than 10 mmHg are measured not only in patients who have vascular diseases, such as aortic dissections, and aortic aneurysms, but also in heathy patients. We investigated the degree of and the factors for normal inter-arm blood pressure variations in our country. METHODS: We prospectively studied the cases of 351 patients who visited the Emergency Department of Korea University Hospital between May 1 and July 31, 2001. we collected clinical and demographic data, including age, sex, right/left handedness, and bilateral blood pressure. After we divided the cases into a Normal blood pressure group and a High blood pressure group, we compared the inter-arm blood pressure difference and influencing factors between the two group. RESULTS: The variation in the inter-arm blood pressure was unrelated to age, sex, right/left handedness, and right/left arm in both groups. In the Normal blood pressure group (n=180), the systolic inter-arm blood pressure difference was 3.9+/-0.4 mmHg, and the diastolic inter-arm blood pressure difference was 3.6+/-0.4 mmHg. In the High blood pressure group (n=171), the systolic inter-arm blood pressure difference was 5.2+/-0.5 mmHg, and the diastolic interarm blood pressure difference was 4.8+/-0.5 mmHg. CONCLUSION: The variation in the inter-arm blood pressure was unrelated to age, sex, right/left handedness, and right/left arm. But inter-arm blood pressure difference was significant among subjects without exclusion criteria and was measured as about 5 mmHg in two groups.