The a wave precedes the carotid pulse, whereas the v wave closely follows the carotid pulse.
In general, the venous pulse cannot be palpated because of its low pressure. The jugular venous pulse waves should be timed by simultaneous palpation of the carotid pulse.
Check our archives to test your knowledge in other clinical signs:
If you do not already have Acrobat Reader, simply click on the icon below, scroll down to the "Get the Free Acrobat Reader" heading and follow the instructions to install the program. Acrobat enables you to convert any document into an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file for easy viewing.