A TEST OF BLOOD FLOW TO AN EXTREMITY:  ITS CLINICAL APPLICATIONS

The number of vascular tests is legion. Boerhaave is quoted as crediting Jan Swammerdam with the construction of the first plethysmograph. Stephen Hales, the English clergyman, was the first to measure blood pressure by cannulating the carotid artery of a horse in 1733. During the period that followed, accurate measurements of blood pressure in animals were made, while this study in man remained virtually a sealed book. Then, in 1896, Riva-Rocci introduced the armlet method, which gave reliable results and accurate estimations of systolic pressure. A cuff of standard width was introduced which eliminated error, and later a complete description by Kortoff of the auscultatory changes assured exact diastolic as well as systolic readings.¹ A few workers still favored the oscillatory determinations.

During the last ten years there has been renewed interest in the peripheral vascular diseases. New methods have been devised, and the problem has been approached afresh.