triemal04 Posted August 17, 2013 Posted August 17, 2013 Could you be more specific? "What you are getting is actually the MAP"? The MAP is usually a single number, and when you take a blood pressure it gives two numbers...which is the MAP The newer (2nd generation) LVAD's aren't pulsatile; they operate on a continuous flow basis. So the pressure that you start hearing the blood flow at (the "whoosh" sound") is the MAP, not the diastolic or systolic. You'll stop hearing it very rapidly as well. Depending on how much work the LVAD is doing compared to the patient's own heart, you might be able to feel a radial pulse. I think if this is the case you should be able to take a normal BP, but the times I've dealt with this type of patient's there's been no palpable radial pulses and a regular BP was unobtainable.
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