Let us next evaluate our patient's carotid arterial pulse located just medial to the sternocleidomastoid in the neck. When I put light pressure on the vessel I feel that impulse to be normal. Let's share that by my placing a cotton swab on the vessel and watch the excursion of the tip of that swab. [Cut-away]

The evaluation of the carotid arterial pulse is particularly important, because it is a wonderful reflector of certain hemodynamically significant lesions of the heart, some of which can in fact result in so-called hypertension. A perfect example of which is a patient with significant aortic regurgitation, where they have a high systolic and a low diastolic. So, always carefully palpate the carotid vessel's upstroke, peak and downstroke.