The blood hammer phenomenon is a sudden increase of the upstream blood pressure in a blood vessel (especially artery or arteriole) when the bloodstream is abruptly blocked by vessel obstruction. The term "blood-hammer" was introduced in cerebral hemodynamics by analogy with the hydraulic expression "water hammer," already used in vascular physiology to designate an arterial pulse variety, the "water-hammer pulse."
Famous quotes containing the words blood and/or hammer:
“The blood blooms clean
In you, ruby.
The pain
You wake to is not yours.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“Long lion days
Start with white haze.
By midday you meet
A hammer of heat....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)