Cardiology

Mean Arterial Pressure

Educational content onlySource-checked

Cross-checked against published sources on October 9, 2026 (automated, AI-assisted); not reviewed by a licensed clinician. Not medical advice, not for diagnosis or treatment decisions. Always verify with current guidelines and consult a qualified professional. We may be wrong: this page can contain errors. If you spot one, report it and we will check it against current sources and correct it.

Sources checked (5)

American Heart Association / Wolters Kluwer (Hypertension) via Europe PMC. Association of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular outcomes with 24-hour mean arterial pressure (accessed October 9, 2026)
Wiley / American Heart Association (Journal of the American Heart Association) via Europe PMC. Temporal trends in pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure during the rise of pediatric obesity in US children (accessed October 9, 2026)
Hindawi (BioMed Research International) via Europe PMC. Systemic and Ocular Hemodynamic Risk Factors ... (Biomed Res Int 2015) (accessed October 8, 2026)
Springer Nature / ESICM (Intensive Care Med) via Europe PMC. Surviving sepsis campaign: international guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021 (accessed October 8, 2026)
Springer Nature / ESICM (Intensive Care Med) via Europe PMC. Consensus on circulatory shock and hemodynamic monitoring (accessed October 8, 2026)

Source policy Medical disclaimer

Formula

MAP = DBP + (SBP - DBP) / 3 (assumes a resting heart rate; diastole is about 2/3 of the cardiac cycle).

Limitations

An approximation that is inaccurate at high heart rates. Invasive or oscillometric MAP measurement is preferred when available.
No normal range for MAP was found in the sources checked (blood-pressure categories are defined on systolic and diastolic values); the only threshold shown is 65 mmHg, the initial MAP target recommended in septic shock on vasopressors, and targets are individualised.

References

Formula and nomogram for the sphygmomanometric calculation of the mean arterial pressure. Meaney E, Alva F, Moguel R, Meaney A, Alva J, Webel R. Heart. 2000;84(1):64. PMID 10862592
Surviving sepsis campaign: international guidelines for management of sepsis and septic shock 2021 (initial MAP target 65 mmHg in septic shock on vasopressors). Evans L, Rhodes A, Alhazzani W, et al. Intensive Care Med. 2021;47(11):1181-1247. PMID 34599691