A model for the relationship between the arterial pressure and the heart period

This paper provides a simple model for predicting the relationship between steady-state heart rate and arterial blood pressure. Two current state-of-the-art models of the cardiovascular system as a pump operating in its circuit are reformulated and combined in order to highlight the role of the duration of the heart cycle. The proposed model establishes that the cardiac cycle lengthens linearly with the inverse of the average blood pressure. Experimental data are reported for sixteen preoperated conscious dogs resting quietly on their sides. Vagal and sympathetic blocks have been produced in four dogs in order to obtain a wide range of sympathetic and parasympathetic tones, namely, to cover the entire range of physiological values of the heart rate. For these dogs a comparison between the experimental values and the theoretical predictions shows a good agreement, the results of the linear regression model being statistically significant at the p = 0.001 level for three dogs and at the p = 0.01 level for the fourth dog.