Limb blood pressure measurements in infants twelve hundred grams or less

Mean arterial blood pressures were measured peripherally in the upper and lower positions of the right leg, right arm, and left arm by a neonate oscillometric blood pressure machine. They also were compared to the mean arterial pressures measured centrally by an umbilical artery catheter or radial arterial line. The study consisted of 10 infants (3 males, 7 females) 1,200 grams or less. Measurements were obtained in each infant for 3 consecutive days. The data collected were analyzed by computer statistical analysis. The analysis revealed that day and day by location were significant. However, the standard deviations were so great that further analysis was not continued. The physiological significance of these findings was discussed. In order to obtain a correct clinical evaluation, the importance of knowing these physiological variances of blood pressure in infants was stressed.