The diastolic debate: Is it time to discard Korotkoff phase IV in favour of phase V for blood pressure measurements in pregnancy?

Abstract

Current guidelines recommend using Korotkoff phase IV for measuring diastolic blood pressure in pregnant women. However, phase IV does not approximate 'true' blood pressure as closely as phase V, is more difficult to defect, and has limited reproducibility. Many practitioners use phase V despite the guidelines. Universal adoption of phase V would improve the reliability of blood pressure measurements.