Tag Archives: Valsalva manoeuvre

Dear Sirs, We read with interest the article by Dr Ward in the BJC, and we greatly welcome his refreshing physiological overview of the jugular venous (JV) pulse.1 We might, however, not have been quite so dismissive of modern technology. Although Paul Wood was concerned not to place too much reliance on machines (“… we are in danger of losing our clinical heritage and of pinning too much faith in figures thrown up by machines.”),2 the superb film cited (http://archive.org/details/Thejugularvenouspulse-wellcome) makes it clear that he, too, was not averse to using the technology of the day where appropriate. The height of the JV pressur