Systolic blood pressure is defined as:

• A. The pressure created when the heart relaxes and fills the ventricles.
• B. The pressure in the veins during pumping.
• C. The mean arterial pressure during the cardiac cycle.
• D. The pressure created when the heart contracts and forces blood out into the arteries

Answer: (D)

Peak arterial pressure occurs during ventricular contraction when the heart contracts and pushes blood into the aorta and arteries. This moment is when the arteries experience their highest pressure in the cardiac cycle, so it’s what we mean by systolic blood pressure. It differs from diastolic pressure, which is the pressure when the heart is relaxed and the ventricles fill. It isn’t describing venous pressure, which relates to the veins, nor is it an average value across the cycle—that would be the mean arterial pressure. So the definition that matches systolic pressure is the pressure created when the heart contracts and forces blood out into the arteries.