In the routine study of patients with hypertension, the determination of the blood pressure in the legs is now recognized as a necessity. Usually this pressure is obtained by placing a large, specially constructed blood pressure cuff around the thigh and auscultating over the popliteal artery. The special cuff is not always available and is sometimes difficult to apply because of obesity; therefore, an alternate method was sought. It was discovered that if a patient had a strong dorsalis pedis or posterior tibial pulse a blood pressure could be obtained in almost every instance by placing the cuff around the ankle. Although both systolic and diastolic pressure can usually be obtained by this method, it was found more reliable to obtain only the systolic pressure by means of palpation of the dorsalis pedis or posterior tibial artery. With the patient lying down, the cuff is applied just around the ankle,