Blood pressure substantially higher in legs than arms

What it means

An abnormal blood pressure discrepancy between the upper and lower extremities with the blood pressure measured in the legs being much higher than the blood pressure measure in the arms. In healthy individuals, ankle systolic blood pressures are only slightly higher than the systolic blood pressure measured in the arm.

This feature may be seen, for instance, in Takayasu arteritis.

Rare diseases that can present with this1

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Blood pressure substantially higher in lower than upper extremities · Blood pressure substantially lower in arms than legs · Blood pressure substantially lower in upper than lower extremities