Clinical application of carotid electrosphygmography.

A short historical review of sphygmography and a description of the contour together with the genesis of the arterial pulse wave is given. An own procedure of quantitative analysis of the carotid sphygmogram is described. The scope of these investigations was an attempt to determine sphygmographic criteria for arterial distensibility, showing the degeneration of the arteries. First it is reported about the original technique of the carotid resonance electrosphygmography (CRESG), then the advantages resulting from long-term investigations (especially with arterial atheriosclerotic patients compared with normal subjects) are stressed. Secondly, the practical value of CRESG, substantiated with X-ray aortography, pathological findings and experiments on dogs is shown. In two groups (70 healthy subjects and 221 patients with reduced distensibility of the arterial wall) a significant correlation between PWV in the aorta and quantitative sphygmographic data could be shown. Thirdly, the usefulness of CRESG as a noninvasive method in the quantitative assessment of arterial damage is concluded especially for the case of atherosclerosis and hypertension. The further development of this original method in evaluating arterial ageing, the arterial changes in hypertensive patients and in different other pathological situations may promote a broader clinical application of CRESG.