AN EMERITUS Professor in electrical engineering and telecommunications has identified what he says could be wide-ranging inaccurate blood pressure readings due to calibration in brachial cuffs.
According to a small-scale study published in the Journal of Hypertension, UNSW Professor Branko Celler claims misreadings of Korotkoff sounds or misdetections may lead to significant doubts in the reliability of the dominant tool used in blood pressure readings.
"We've actually known for 100 years or more that we systemically underestimate systolic blood pressure, but we've never had an answer to it," Prof Celler said.
"This is a fundamental and important problem that's been identified, the implication of this study is really quite profound and I acknowledge the fact it's hugely disruptive to current accepted practices," he added.
Prof Celler said his study featured only 40 people - 35 men and five women with an average age of 64 - and saw tests conducted using both an invasive catheter and the non-invasive brachial cuff.
He said the disruption comes from an accepted norm that effectively, every blood pressure machine worldwide is calibrated using Korotkoff sounds and may, therefore, be in error.
"What we are suggesting is that improvements need to be made to eliminate the sources of error we have identified."
High blood pressure and hypertension affects more than 1.1 billion people worldwide. ML
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