Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension, with Chapters on Blood Pressure: 3rd Edition.Warfield, Louis M. (Louis Marshall)
Science
Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension, with Chapters on Blood Pressure: 3rd Edition.
Warfield, Louis M. (Louis Marshall)
Arteries -- Diseases; Blood pressure
The most accurate mercury manometer is that of Erlanger. (Fig. 15.) The
instrument is bulky and is not practicable for the physician in
practice. The principle is that used by Riva-Rocci. There is an extra
T-tube introduced between the manometer and air bulb connecting with a
rubber bulb in a glass chamber. The oscillations of this are
communicated to a Marey tambour and recorded on smoked paper revolving
on a drum. There is a complicated valve which enables the operator to
reduce the pressure with varying degrees of slowness. The mercury is
placed in a U-tube with a scale alongside it. The instrument is
expensive and not as easy to manipulate as its advocates would have us
believe. Hirschfelder has added to the usefulness (as well as to the
complexity) of the Erlanger instrument, by placing two recording
tambours for the simultaneous registering of the carotid and venous
pulses. In spite of its complexity and necessary bulkiness, very
valuable data are obtained concerning the auricular contractions.
[Illustration: Fig. 15.--The Erlanger sphygmomanometer with the
Hirschfelder attachments by means of which simultaneous tracings can be
obtained from the brachial, carotid, and venous pulses.]
One of the best of the mercury instruments is the Brown
sphygmomanometer. In this (Fig. 16) the mercury is in a closed,
all-glass tube so that it can not spill under any sort of manipulation.
It is in this sense "fool-proof." The cuff, however, is poorly
constructed. It is too short and there are strings to tie it around the
arm. I have found that this causes undue pressure in a narrow circle and
renders the reading inaccurate. In the clinic we use this mercury
instrument with a long cuff like that provided by the Tycos instrument.
[Illustration: Fig. 16.--Desk model Baumanometer.]
The Faught instrument (Fig. 17) is larger than the Brown, but is less
easily broken and is not too cumbersome to carry around. The
substitution of a metal air pump for the rubber makes the apparatus more
durable.
[Illustration: Fig. 17.--The Faught blood pressure instrument. An
excellent instrument which is quite easily carried about and is not
easily broken.]
The v. Recklinghausen instrument is not employed to any extent in this
country. It is both expensive and cumbersome, and has no advantages over
the other instruments.
Several other instruments have been devised and new ones are constantly
being added to the already large list. With those employing mercury the
principle is the same. The aim is to make an instrument which is easily
carried, durable, and accurate.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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