Cardiovascular physiology: blood pressure: practice question

The best answer is D, 110 mmHg. Pulse pressure is 150 minus 90, which is 60 mmHg.

This is just the diastolic pressure and ignores the contribution of pulsatile pressure.

This comes from adding two-thirds of the pulse pressure to diastolic pressure, which is the wrong fraction.

This is the simple average of systolic and diastolic pressure, which overestimates mean pressure because diastole is longer than systole.

It tests Cardiovascular physiology: blood pressure in Physiology. One-third of this is 20, so the mean arterial pressure is 90 plus 20, which is 110 mmHg. The mean lies closer to diastolic pressure because diastole occupies more of the cardiac cycle than systole at a normal heart rate.

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

For each system, sketch the key graph (pressure–volume loop, oxygen dissociation curve, nephron handling) and explain it aloud. Then use the flashcards and the other Physiology questions on this site to test what stuck.

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.