Figure 1.

Assessment of pulsatile haemodynamics—overview. Top line: recording of signal-averaged radial or brachial pressure waveforms with tonometry or brachial cuff. Second line: following calibration with brachial pressures, aortic waveforms are calculated with a transfer function (TF). Pulse waveform analysis, based on pressure signals alone, yields measures of the first (P1) and second (P2) systolic peaks for computation of augmented pressure and augmentation index (AP, AIx). Third line: flow waveforms are obtained, either with Doppler recording of LV outflow (which equals aortic inflow), or as model-derived flow or triangular flow as a proxy. Bottom line: combined and time-aligned analysis of a pressure–flow pair is used for wave separation analysis, wave intensity analysis, and other analytical approaches (Courtesy of Bernhard Hametner, modified from Parragh et al.¹³ and from Hametner et al.¹⁴). DBP, diastolic blood pressure; ED, ejection duration; MAP, mean arterial pressure; PP, pulse pressure; PWA, pulse waveform analysis, RM, reflection magnitude; SBP, systolic blood pressure; WIA, wave intensity analysis; WSA, wave separation analysis.