Pulse volume recordings are most useful in detecting obstruction in calcified arteries in which falsely elevated pressure measurements are frequent. - A normal PVR waveform is composed of a systolic upstroke with a sharp systolic peak followed by a downstroke that contains a prominent dicrotic notch. - Mild to moderate disease is characterized by loss of the dicrotic notch and an outward "bowing" of the downstroke of the waveform. - With severe disease, the amplitude of the waveform is blunted.
Courtesy of the Division of Vascular Surgery at OHSU.
