Accelarated skeletal maturation in children with primary hypertension

It is hypothesized that primary hypertension (PH) is a disorder with origins in childhood linked to, at least in part, aberrations of growth and maturation processes. To evaluate the possible relation between the rate of biological maturity and development of PH, bone age (BA) assessments on the basis of dual x-ray absorptiometry-derived hand scans were performed in 54 newly diagnosed children and adolescents with PH and 54 healthy controls matched for body mass index (BMI), age and sex. Chronological age (CA), body height (in centimeters), body weight (in kilograms), BMI (in kilograms per meter squared), and blood pressure were assessed. Healthy controls had a mean BA of 14.7+/-2.3 years that was not significantly different from their mean CA of 14.2+/-2.1 years. In the PH group, the BA of 16.0+/-2.0 years was higher by 1.9+/-0.9 years compared with their CA of 14.1+/-2.0 years (P<0.0001). The magnitude of acceleration of skeletal maturation (BA-CA) and its prevalence (88.9%) were significantly higher in PH compared with BMI-matched controls (37.0%; chi(2)=31.4; P<0.0001). BA-CA values of PH patients were higher by 1.24 years in normal weight (P<0.0001), 1.80 years in overweight (P<0.01), and 1.40 years in obese (P<0.0001) subgroups of BMI z score-matched controls. Stepwise regression revealed that predictors of blood pressure status from normotension through prehypertension stages 1 and 2 of hypertension were BA-CA (beta=0.530; P<0.0.001), height (beta=-0.379; P<0.01), and CA (beta=0.298; P<0.05; R(2)=0.43). In conclusion, irrespective of BMI, advanced biological maturation should be considered as an independent marker for the development of hypertension.