The Baroreflex Areas Method

The baroreflex areas method is a way to quantify baroreflex-sympathoneural function. There are two areas calculated, one for Phase II of the Valsalva maneuver (light green area) and one for Phase III (pink area).

In Phase II, systolic blood pressure (BP) falls below the baseline value (BL, dashed line). The area under the BL BP is calculated by summing the areas of the trapezoids for each heartbeat until the minimum BP in Phase II.

Similarly, the area under the BL BP in Phase III is calculated from the minimum BP until the BP has returned to BL.