title: Inter- and intraindividual variation in Doppler ultrasonic indirect blood pressure measurements in healthy cats.
abstract: This study was undertaken to evaluate reference ranges for systolic blood pressure (SBP) in cats under conditions mimicking a clinical setting. SBP was measured in 50 healthy adult cats of various ages (range, 1.5-16 years) and body weights (range, 2.2-6.1 kg) by Doppler ultrasonic sphygmomanometry. A cuff width of 2.5 cm was used, placed on the left antebrachium, and this represented a mean cuff width of 35% limb circumference (range, 31-42%). The mean (+/-SD) SBP in the 50 cats was 162 +/- 19 mm Hg (range 124-210), with only 1 cat having a SBP > or = 200 mm Hg. No significant difference (P > .05) in SBP was found between male and female cats, and no significant correlation was found between SBP and age (r(s) = 0.075) or body weight (r(s) = 0.007). Further studies in some of these cats indicated that allowing a period of 10 minutes for acclimatization to the environment where SBP was recorded resulted in a significant decrease in SBP from 176 +/- 17 to 157 +/- 21 mm Hg (n = 7) and that use of a 3.3-cm-width cuff resulted in a significant decrease in measured SBP from 168 +/- 13 to 164 +/- 13 mm Hg (n = 10). Reproducibility of SBP measurements was evaluated in 7 cats by assessing SBP 7 times at intervals of > or = 24 hours over a 10-day period. These 7 cats had a low intraindividual coefficient of variation of SBP measurements (CV < or = 7.9%) although 2 of the 7 cats had SBP values > 200 mm Hg on at least 1 occasion.
authors.affiliation: The Feline Centre, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, UK. A.H.Sparkes@bris.ac.uk
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Sparkes
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Caney
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Gruffydd-Jones
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination / Q000662:veterinary; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D019722:Sphygmomanometers; D018608:Ultrasonography, Doppler / Q000662:veterinary*