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Physicians, clinical researchers and healthcare industry experts support the use of mercury gravity instrumentation for blood pressure measurement. Mercury-gravity manometers are safe, accurate, and essential in the accurate measurement of blood pressure.
"The gold standard for blood pressure measurement is the mercury manometer. There is an alarming effort, of unknown etiology, to remove these devices from medical practice and to replace them with less accurate aneroid or electronic devices. We have reviewed the world's literature on Hg toxicity and could not find a single instance in which anyone has been harmed by the Hg from a manometer used in a health care setting. The actual risks of toxicity from the Hg in the Hg manometer seemed to be dwarfed by the consequences of the widespread use of inaccurate aneroid devices. Efforts to correct this problem should be undertaken by those interested in accurate blood pressure measurement."
Clarence E. Grim, Garcia J. Fong RJ, C. R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, Los Angeles, CA, ASH Abstracts, AJH, April 1994
"Measurements by an aneroid sphygmomanometer are based upon the incremental compression of a metal bellows, which is transmitted by gears to a dial. This dial is calibrated to express the pressure in the cuff in mm Hg , as if it were a mercury sphygmomanometer. Because the elasticity of the metal bellows changes with time, the calibration must be checked frequently by a simultaneous measurement with a mercury sphygmomanometer device using a Y-tube adapter. Logistic difficulties associated with frequent calibration makes aneroid sphygmomanometers a second choice to the more reliable mercury-gravity devices."
CONFOUNDERS OF AUSCULTATORY BLOOD PRESSURE MEASUREMENT, by Richard H. Baker, MD, Jack Ende, MD Reprinted from JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE, Published by HANLEY & BELFUS, INC., Philadelphia, PA © 1995
American Heart Association. Recommendations for human blood pressure determination by sphygmomanometry. Dallas: American Heart Association. 1988.
"The mercury manometer is the gold standard for indirect measurement of blood pressure because it is the most accurate and reliable device available. The use of automated devices is discouraged unless the observer is unable to see or hear well enough to use a manual device. Accuracy varies, and readings obtained using automated devices should be questioned until proven accurate."
"Blood Pressure Measurement," by Carlene M. Grim, RN, MSN, SpDN and Clarence E. Grim, MS, MD; from "Hypertension Primer - The Essentials of High Blood Pressure," produced by the Council on High Blood Pressure Research, American Heart Association, 1993
"To subject a patient to a lifetime of treatment based on measurement from a device with may be inaccurate is bad medicine and bad public policy."
Dr. Neil Brooks, Healthwise Medical Associates (Vernon, Conn.), ABCNews.com, "Cuff Controversy: Opinions Mixed Over Accuracy of Blood Pressure Devices," Alexa Pozniak, June 20, 2002.
"The mercury device has long been the gold standard. It measures force with a column of mercury. The mercury is pushed down by gravity and up by the blood pressure, and since gravity does not change, the gauge does not wear out. If properly maintained, it can give accurate readings for decades."
Gina Kolata, New York Times, "Experts: New Blood Pressure Devices Unreliable, Old Mercury Gauges Often More Accurate," June 16, 2002
"You could probably find a mercury blood pressure monitor from the 19th century in a museum and it would be accurate."
Dr. Donald Jensen, Engineer, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, in the New York Times, "Experts: New Blood Pressure Devices Unreliable, Old Mercury Gauges Often More Accurate," June 16, 2002
"Although both aneroid and electronic instruments have some advantages of portability and ease of use, few of these instruments have had adequate validation. Still fewer of these instruments are calibrated regularly. To be sure, these instruments have a place in patient management, particularly with respect to their use as home monitoring devices. However, most of these instruments have not been adequately validated over a wide range of blood pressures, ages, and clinical conditions to warrant routine use in hospitals and outpatient settings."
"Measurements should be taken preferably with a mercury sphygmomanometer; otherwise a recently calibrated aneroid manometer or a validated electronic device can be used."
The Sixth Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure, National Institutes of Health and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
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