It is well recognized that catheter-manometer systems significantly distort direct radial artery pressure measurements. Sinusoidal frequency analysis and the flush method of assessing the degree of distortion caused by the monitoring system were compared to determine whether these two methods agree in the estimation of natural frequency and damping coefficient. The frequency response of 30 radial artery catheter-manometer systems used for intensive-care unit patients was measured by the flush method and sinusoidal frequency analysis. The monitoring system consisted of a 20-gauge cannula, 150-cm pressure tubing, two plastic stopcocks, a continuous infusion device with fast flush valve, an American Edwards dome, a Hewlett-Packard quartz transducer, and a Hewlett-Packard blood pressure amplifier. Sinusoidal frequency analysis demonstrated second-order underdamped response for all 30 catheter-manometer systems. No secondary resonance peaks were observed up to a frequency of 200 Hz. The measured frequency response demonstrated that the average catheter-manometer system in use in our intensive care unit would cause significant distortion of the radial artery pressure, with the mean natural frequency (fn) of 14.7 +/- 3.7 Hz and the mean damping coefficient (zeta) of 0.24 +/- 0.07. Although the 30 monitoring systems had identical configurations and visible bubbles were carefully removed, a wide range of frequency responses was found (fn = 10.2 to 25.3; zeta = 0.15 to 0.44).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)