Question:easy
Water hammer pulse (Corrigan's pulse) is seen in:
Water hammer pulse (Corrigan's pulse) is seen in:
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Which lesion gives a wide pulse pressure with a sharp rise and collapse?
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Aortic regurgitation
- Mitral stenosis
- Aortic stenosis
- Left ventricular failure
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Physiology-first angle: a collapsing pulse needs a wide pulse pressure, so ask which valve lesion widens it.
Aortic regurgitation does exactly that. The leaky aortic valve lets blood run back into the left ventricle in diastole, dropping the diastolic pressure, while the enlarged stroke volume pushes the systolic pressure up. A high systolic minus a low diastolic equals a wide pulse pressure, felt as a pulse that bounds up and collapses away, the water hammer or Corrigan pulse, classically demonstrated with the arm raised.
Eliminate the rest on the same logic. Aortic stenosis narrows the outflow, giving a slow, small, sustained pulse (parvus et tardus), the mirror image. Mitral stenosis reduces left ventricular filling, giving a small-volume pulse. Left ventricular failure also lowers stroke volume, so the pulse is weak, not bounding.
Aortic regurgitation is therefore the single best answer, and it is also linked to signs like Quincke and de Musset.
Ref: Hutchison's Clinical Methods, 24e.
Aortic regurgitation does exactly that. The leaky aortic valve lets blood run back into the left ventricle in diastole, dropping the diastolic pressure, while the enlarged stroke volume pushes the systolic pressure up. A high systolic minus a low diastolic equals a wide pulse pressure, felt as a pulse that bounds up and collapses away, the water hammer or Corrigan pulse, classically demonstrated with the arm raised.
Eliminate the rest on the same logic. Aortic stenosis narrows the outflow, giving a slow, small, sustained pulse (parvus et tardus), the mirror image. Mitral stenosis reduces left ventricular filling, giving a small-volume pulse. Left ventricular failure also lowers stroke volume, so the pulse is weak, not bounding.
Aortic regurgitation is therefore the single best answer, and it is also linked to signs like Quincke and de Musset.
Ref: Hutchison's Clinical Methods, 24e.
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