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MAP calculator: mean arterial pressure and pulse pressure

The mean arterial pressure and the pulse pressure from a measured systolic and diastolic blood pressure, with the formula shown.

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An estimate from a cuff pressure

The formula weights the diastolic twice because the heart spends about two thirds of each beat in diastole at a normal heart rate. At a fast rate the estimate is less accurate. It needs a measured diastolic: a palpated pressure has none, so this tool cannot use one.

Result

Enter both the systolic and the diastolic.

Source

Mean arterial pressure estimated as diastolic + one third of the pulse pressure, the standard bedside approximation in physiology texts (for example Guyton and Hall, Textbook of Medical Physiology). The 65 mmHg target follows Evans L, Rhodes A, Alhazzani W, et al. Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2021. Crit Care Med. 2021;49(11):e1063-e1143.

The one-third weighting assumes a normal heart rate; at a fast rate the true mean runs closer to the plain average. Most automated (oscillometric) cuffs measure the mean directly and calculate the systolic and diastolic from it, so the monitor's MAP is the more directly measured figure and can differ from this one. Your protocol governs what any pressure means for your patient.

Guides that use this tool

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