What is systolic blood pressure?

• A. Force exerted by blood on arterial walls during ventricular relaxation
• B. Force exerted by blood on arterial walls during ventricular contraction
• C. Force exerted by blood on arterial walls during atrial contraction
• D. Force exerted by blood on arterial walls during ventricular filling

Answer: (B)

Systolic blood pressure is the arterial pressure created when the ventricles contract and push blood into the arteries. This moment of ventricular systole produces the peak in arterial pressure, which is why it’s the higher number in a blood pressure reading. When the heart relaxes, arterial pressure falls to its lowest point, the diastolic pressure. The other phases—atrial contraction and ventricular filling—occur at different times and do not determine the peak pressure used to define systolic blood pressure.