What does diastolic pressure measure?

• A. Pressure during heart contraction
• B. The highest arterial pressure during systole
• C. Pressure within the vessels during rest - between contractions
• D. Mean arterial pressure

Answer: (C)

Diastolic pressure measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart is at rest between beats. It reflects the baseline arterial pressure during relaxation and filling, and is influenced by the resistance in the systemic circulation and arterial elasticity. This is lower than the pressure during contraction, which is the systolic pressure, and the term about the highest arterial pressure during systole also refers to systolic work, not diastole. Mean arterial pressure is a separate measurement that approximates the average pressure in the arteries over the entire cardiac cycle, typically estimated as diastolic pressure plus about one third of the pulse pressure.