Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 1, 2026

Pulse Wave Velocity Testing in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging
Published on: February 7, 2014
Comparison of hyperemic changes in carotid-radial pulse wave velocity by upper and lower arm cuff occlusion
Haroon Kamran1, Louis Salciccioli, Kalyan Prudhvi
1Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, State University of New York Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY 11203, USA.
Unlabelled:
Carotid-radial pulse wave velocity (PWV) normally decreases following release of upper arm cuff occlusion (hyperemia). Lower arm (LA) elicits less brachial artery dilation than upper arm (UA) occlusion but more closely reflects endothelial function. Using applanation tonometry, we compared changes (Δ) in PWV induced by UA and LA hyperemia in 65 healthy participants. Pulse wave velocity was measured serially. Both techniques decreased PWV maximally at 1 minute with gradual return to baseline by 9 minutes. ΔPWV(1min) was greater for UA than LA occlusion (-11.5% vs -6.8%, P = .02). Multivariate analysis showed arm location independently related to ΔPWV (P = .036). In participants with variable cardiovascular risk, PWV decline lessened with increasing Framingham risk for both techniques.
In Conclusion:
UA and LA occlusion decrease PWV maximally at 1 minute after release of arterial occlusion. PWV(1min) decline are more marked after UA than LA occlusion and progressively lessens with increasing Framingham risk.
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