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Pulse wave velocity (PWV) was measured in situ in 11 isolated canine common carotid arteries. Seven arteries exhibited a linear PWV vs. pressure function at pressures ranging from 0 to 200 mmHg. Four arteries yielded a linear relationship between PWV and pressure between 1 and 100 mmHg; for these vessels the relationship was nonlinear at higher pressures. Seven arteries (five from the group which was linear up to 200 mmHg and two from the group which was linear up to 100 mmHg) were excised and pressure/volume measurements were made in vivo. Using pressure/volume data, the Moens-Korteweg equation was evaluated as a predictor of the PWV vs. pressure relationship over the linear region. An expression was developed to enable prediction of the pressure/volume relationship using the coefficients at the linear PWV vs. pressure function, and these predictions were evaluated. We found that, for this range, the Moens-Korteweg equation provides a very good basis for predicting the increase in PWV with increasing bias pressure. In addition, we found that the pressure/volume relationship of common carotid arteries is well represented by an exponential of the form V/V0 = Keαf(P) , which was derived as the inverse solution to the Moens-Korteweg equation.