A MODEL DESCRIBING THE CARDIOVASCULAR RESPONSE TO THE FLACK TEST.

Abstract : Qualitative Flack test information and data from an extensive literature review have been integrated into the design and interpretation of a basic Flack test model. Such a model is useful in perspectively viewing potential contributions by various physiological mechanisms to the overall cardiovascular responses; as such, it should form a foundation from which to conduct more extensive investigations. From a complex model proposed from the literature, a reduced model describing only the first eight to ten seconds of the cardiovascular response to the Flack test then was derived using simplifying assumptions justified in the literature. Records of heart rate, direct arterial blood pressure, and pulse wave velocity during Flack tests are used to quantitate the reduced version of the Flack test model. The uses and limitations of the cardiovascular response to the Flack test as a diagnostic aid are reviewed. Some limitations of the model are noted. (Author)