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Figure 2 | The Journal of Headache and Pain

Figure 2

From: Peripheral vascular dysfunction in migraine: a review

Figure 2

Carotid-Femoral Pulse Wave Velocity. Increased arterial stiffness leads to increased velocity of the pulse wave generated in the arteries by the contraction of the left ventricle. Pulse wave velocity (PWV) consists in measuring pulse wave profiles by tonometry at two distant locations (carotid and femoral) and measuring the delay in the onset of the wave between those two locations. PWV is calculated as the distance traveled by the wave divided by the time taken to travel that distance. Surface distance between the two recording sites and simultaneously recorded electrocardiograms are used to calculate wave transit time. The figure shows tonometric (white lines) recordings of the carotid (above) and femoral (below) artery waves according with simultaneous electrocardiographic (yellow lines) ‘R’ wave of the electrocardiogram as a timing reference.

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