The Interarm Blood Pressure Difference

Abstract

To the Editor: Agarwal et al1 report on the prognostic significance of an interarm blood pressure difference in a cohort of renal and general medical clinic subjects. They cite studies in asserting that the right arm blood pressure consistently reads higher than the left. We have systematically reviewed these and other studies.2 We found no overall evidence of a bias in favor of a higher pressure on the right. They also state that no study has demonstrated greater reproducibility of the interarm difference (IAD) with obstructive arterial disease, yet our analysis of existing data showed a significantly higher …