# What is my pulse pressure?

Works out the pulse pressure (systolic minus diastolic blood pressure) and the proportional pulse pressure (pulse pressure ÷ systolic), and compares them with the 60 mmHg and 25% cut-offs of the cited sources.

- Page: https://www.acalculator.org/health/pulse-pressure-calculator
- JSON spec: https://www.acalculator.org/health/pulse-pressure-calculator.json
- Version: 6a41bcb5ffdd

## Default answer

Example with the default inputs (Systolic, top number (mmHg) 120, Diastolic, bottom number (mmHg) 80): A blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg gives a pulse pressure of 40 mmHg, 33.3% of the systolic pressure.

## Inputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| sys | Systolic, top number (mmHg) | The systolic blood pressure, 50 to 300 mmHg. |
| dia | Diastolic, bottom number (mmHg) | The diastolic blood pressure, 20 to 200 mmHg. |

## Outputs

| Key | Label | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| pp | Pulse pressure (mmHg) | Systolic minus diastolic pressure, to 1 decimal. |
| ppp | Proportional pulse pressure | Pulse pressure ÷ systolic pressure, in percent, to 1 decimal. |
| pppCutoff | Against the 25% cut-off | Whether the proportional pulse pressure shown is under 25% or 25% or more (Stevenson and Perloff 1989). |

## Method

Pulse pressure = SBP − DBP; proportional pulse pressure = (SBP − DBP) ÷ SBP × 100%. Each is rounded once to 1 decimal, halves up, then compared with 60 mmHg and 25%.

## Assumptions

- The pressures are one cuff reading in mmHg, with the person seated and rested.
- The 60 mmHg cut-off is the 2023 ESH sign of stiff large arteries in people over 60; the 25% cut-off comes from 50 people with chronic heart failure.
- Each result is worked from the exact typed values and rounded once to 1 decimal, halves up; the bands read the rounded value.

## Worked examples

1. sys = 120, dia = 80 gives pp = 40, ppp = 33.3%, pppCutoff = 25% or more.
2. sys = 160, dia = 90 gives pp = 70, ppp = 43.8%, pppCutoff = 25% or more.
3. sys = 140, dia = 80 gives pp = 60, ppp = 42.9%, pppCutoff = 25% or more.
4. sys = 100, dia = 80 gives pp = 20, ppp = 20%, pppCutoff = Under 25%. Source: Stevenson and Perloff 1989: proportional pulse pressure 20 ÷ 100 = 20%, under 25%.
5. sys = 120, dia = 90 gives pp = 30, ppp = 25%, pppCutoff = 25% or more.
6. sys = 200, dia = 150.1 gives pp = 49.9, ppp = 25%, pppCutoff = 25% or more.

## FAQ

### What is pulse pressure?

The systolic (top) blood pressure minus the diastolic (bottom) pressure. It is the rise in pressure with each heartbeat. At 120/80 it is 120 − 80 = 40 mmHg, which StatPearls gives as about the normal value.

### How do I calculate pulse pressure?

Subtract the bottom number from the top number. For 160/90: 160 − 90 = 70 mmHg. For the proportional pulse pressure, divide the pulse pressure by the systolic pressure: 70 ÷ 160 = 43.75%, shown as 43.8%.

### What is a wide pulse pressure?

The 2023 ESH hypertension guidelines count a brachial pulse pressure of 60 mmHg or more in people over 60 as a sign of stiff large arteries, one of the kinds of organ damage from high blood pressure (Tables 2 and 11). The same guidelines note that pulse pressure rises with age, because the systolic pressure keeps rising while the diastolic pressure levels off after 50 to 60.

### What is the proportional pulse pressure?

The pulse pressure divided by the systolic pressure, in percent. In 50 people with chronic heart failure, Stevenson and Perloff (1989) found that a proportional pulse pressure under 25% picked out a cardiac index under 2.2 L/min/m² with 91% sensitivity and 83% specificity.

### What is a narrow pulse pressure?

A pulse pressure that is small for the systolic pressure. StatPearls calls a pulse pressure under 25% of the systolic pressure low or narrowed, and lists heart failure, blood loss, aortic stenosis, and cardiac tamponade among the causes. The 25% cut-off was tested in heart failure, not as a screen for healthy people.

### Can a young person have a wide pulse pressure?

Yes. The 2023 ESH guidelines describe isolated systolic hypertension in young people. In some of them, more often tall, active men, it comes with a normal pressure in the aorta and no other risk factors; the guidelines call this spurious systolic hypertension. The 60 mmHg cut-off on this page is for people over 60.

### How is pulse pressure different from mean arterial pressure?

Pulse pressure is the size of the swing in each beat. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) is the average pressure over the beat, estimated as the diastolic pressure plus one third of the pulse pressure. The mean arterial pressure calculator on this site works it out.

## Sources

- Mancia G, Kreutz R, Brunström M, et al. 2023 ESH Guidelines for the management of arterial hypertension. J Hypertens. 2023;41(12):1874-2071 (section 3.3 and 3.4; Table 2, Factors that influence CV risk; Table 11, Criteria to define HMOD: brachial pulse pressure ≥60 mmHg over age 60; section on isolated systolic hypertension in the young). https://doi.org/10.1097/HJH.0000000000003480 (retrieved 2026-10-18)
- Stevenson LW, Perloff JK. The limited reliability of physical signs for estimating hemodynamics in chronic heart failure. JAMA. 1989;261(6):884-888 (abstract: proportional pulse pressure under 25%, 91% sensitivity and 83% specificity for a cardiac index under 2.2 L/min/m², 50 patients). https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1989.03420060100040 (abstract: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2913385/, retrieved 2026-10-18)
- Kothai G, Janani A, Malathy AR, Suthakaran PK. Evaluation of pulse pressure and proportional pulse pressure as predictors of severity among patients having heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Ann Afr Med. 2020;19(3):188-190 (proportional pulse pressure = pulse pressure ÷ systolic pressure, in percent). https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7694704/ (retrieved 2026-10-18)
- Homan TD, Bordes SJ, Cichowski E. Physiology, Pulse Pressure. StatPearls, last update July 10, 2023 (pulse pressure = systolic − diastolic; about 40 mmHg at 120/80; under 25% of systolic is narrowed). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK482408/ (retrieved 2026-10-18)