Evaluation of Central Blood Pressure in an Asian Population: Comparison between Brachial Oscillometry and Radial Tonometry Methods.

Background: New devices have recently been developed using various features of the waveform derived from a brachial cuff for noninvasive estimation of central systolic blood pressure (SBP). Central SBP estimated from brachial oscillometry has never been compared with that estimated from radial tonometry in a Japanese population.

Subjects and methods: We recruited 155 Japanese volunteers (mean age 58 ± 16 years, range 18-99 years; 66.5$ women) and estimated their central SBP using brachial oscillometry (Mobil-O-Graph) or radial tonometry (SphygmoCor).

Results: The mean (standard deviation) peripheral SBP and central SBP measured with brachial oscillometry was 128 ± 18 mm Hg and 118 ± 16 mm Hg, respectively, while the central SBP estimated using radial tonometry was 119 ± 18 mm Hg. The mean (standard deviation) difference in estimated central SBP between brachial oscillometry and radial tonometry was 0.36 ± 5.9 mm Hg, and the central SBPs estimated using these devices were strongly correlated (r = 0.946, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.940, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Central SBP estimated using brachial oscillometry was similar to that estimated from radial tonometry in a Japanese population.