Medical puzzle: can blood flow in arteries be non-pulsatile?
Recently there have been questions on blood pressure and pulse pressure on this forum. Can the blood flow in arteries of a living human be non-pulsatile (i.e. not producing a pulse)? That is, the flow is continuous and at constant pressure, the systolic and diastolic being equal and pulse pressure being zero. Evidently, such people will not have a pulse since arteries are always distended at constant pressure.
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No, not in a normal human (non surgical intervention) simply because of the mechanism of how the blood is pushed through the body.
It isn't like a faucet, where you have constant pressure and regulate by opening or closing a valve in varying degrees. The heart has 4 chambers that alternately relax and fill, then squeeze and empty.
The arterial pulse is from the left side of the heart. Oxygenated blood enters into the left atrium, and from there it is pushed into the left ventricle. When this portion of the heart contracts, this is what pushed blood out through the arteries to deliver oxygen to various systems (organs, muscles, skin, etc.) This surge is what you feel when you articulate a pulse.
However, Yes it is possible in a surgical intervention which has been pointed out. There are LVAD's (Left Ventricular Assist Device) which will produce a pulseless human. When reading up on it, I did find an interesting study that suggests LVAD use may stimulate heart regeneration.
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