CCBMA Clinical Practice Exam

Diastolic pressure is the pressure in the arteries when the heart is relaxing (diastole). During diastole, the heart muscle relaxes and the chambers fill with blood, so the arterial pressure is at its lowest. Systolic pressure, by contrast, is the higher pressure that occurs during contraction when the heart pumps blood. The pulse is the palpable surge from the pressure wave, not a specific pressure value, and mean arterial pressure is the average pressure over the cycle. So the term for pressure during heart relaxation is diastolic.