Reference sites not influenced by hydrostatic pressure for right and left atrial pressures

¹ Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson, Mississippi

Simultaneous recordings of left and right atrial pressures made in dogs being rotated into all positions in space allowed the location of rotational axes where right or left atrial pressure became independent of hydrostatic pressure. Utilization of these axes as zero reference levels made possible the measurement of right or left atrial pressure without the influence of hydrostatic factors. The right zero reference point lay 62.8% of the distance from the manubrium to the xiphoid, 61.2% of the posterior to anterior thoracic diameter, and 47.7% of the greatest transverse thoracic diameter as measured from the right lateral border. The left atrial zero reference point lay 62.1% of the manubrium to xiphoid distance, 57.2% of the posterior to anterior diameter of thorax, and 53.0% of the greatest transverse thoracic diameter as measured from the right lateral border. When referred to the anatomy of the dog, these points lay in the immediate vicinity of the right and left atrioventricular valves, respectively.

Key Words: blood pressure zero reference levels • atrial pressure and position

Submitted on January 20, 1964