Anyone heard of Diastolic BP being higher than Systolic???

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Specializes in MICU for 4 years, now PICU for 3 years!.

I have a cousin that was talking with her mom today and was insisting her BP was 130's/150's. I told her that was impossible, I have never encountered that, nor heard of that, but she kept insisting that was correct. She even said that's how it was in her MD's office today... Has anyone here ever seen a diastolic larger than a systolic??? Or is my cousin slightly confused over her bp reading...

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

Agree not possible!

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Specializes in Med Surg, ICU, Tele.

I think your cousin is mistaken. Diastolic is when your heart is at rest so I dont believe it's possible that the systolic could be lower.

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Specializes in MICU for 4 years, now PICU for 3 years!.

I didn't think it was possible, but I second guessed myself when she insisted it was even like that in her MD's office... I figured it was just something I hadn't seen yet... Thanks! :)

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Specializes in ob/gyn med /surg.

noo wayy.... it would be impossible to have a diastolic higher than your systolic.... in 23 years i have never heard such a thing.... who took her b/p needs to go back to training and learn to do it right... good heavens....

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Specializes in Acute Care Cardiac, Education, Prof Practice.

I think she might be dead considering she would have no pressure gradient to provide blood and perfusion to the rest of her body.

She is mistaken.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

just think about what a monitor looks like...if you start your first thump at 130 and you're heading down...how do you suddenly get 150? She was certainly mistaken.

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If it was taken in an MD office, it probably wasn't taken by a nurse, but a medical assistant who was "trained" to do BP's!

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Specializes in NICU, Telephone Triage.
I have a cousin that was talking with her mom today and was insisting her BP was 130's/150's. I told her that was impossible, I have never encountered that, nor heard of that, but she kept insisting that was correct. She even said that's how it was in her MD's office today... Has anyone here ever seen a diastolic larger than a systolic??? Or is my cousin slightly confused over her bp reading...

You can't always trust what a lay-person tells you when it comes to medicine. A relative of mine insisted a baby they knew was born without nipples...he was a premie. I had never seen that in 18 yrs. of NICU work. There is a condition named for being born without nipples...but come to find out the baby had them, they just couldn't see them very well! I said from the very beginning he probably had them, they just couldn't see them.:uhoh21:

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Specializes in just about everything.

must be mistaken. Impossible.

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I once saw a monitor read with a systolic less than the diastolic. The (new) nurse and (even newer) intern were both in total panic- this was a septic pt whose pressures WERE very low. We all kept telling them, um, guys... that reading isn't accurate, you'd better take a manual, but it took a while for it to sink in, LOL

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Specializes in School Nursing.

wouldn't you have to pump the cuff all over again to get a higher diastolic ? sound's like this is impossible. :banghead:

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