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Published on: May 5, 2018
Ultrasonography to detect cardiovascular damage in children with essential hypertension
1Cardiology Department, Children's Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, 215025, China.
Insights
Early hypertension in children causes hidden heart and blood vessel damage. Ultrasonography revealed significant cardiovascular changes in hypertensive children, indicating early organ damage.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Cardiovascular Research
- Hypertension Studies
Background:
- Essential hypertension can originate in childhood, with subtle cardiovascular damage.
- Early detection of cardiovascular structural and functional changes in pediatric hypertension is challenging.
- Noninvasive ultrasonography offers a method to assess early-stage hypertension impacts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate subclinical cardiovascular structural and functional alterations in children with early-stage essential hypertension.
- To compare cardiovascular parameters between children with simple hypertension, hypertension with obesity, and healthy controls.
- To utilize advanced ultrasonography techniques for noninvasive assessment of target organ damage.
Main Methods:
- Patients were categorized into simple hypertension (n=34), hypertension with obesity (n=11), and healthy controls (n=32).
- Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), carotid intimal-medial thickness (cIMT), and carotid distensibility (CD) were measured using pulse-wave Doppler.
- Echocardiography assessed cardiac structure and function, including left ventricular mass (LVM), dimensions, and diastolic parameters.
Main Results:
- Children with essential hypertension (both groups) exhibited significantly higher cfPWV compared to controls.
- Significant differences in LVM, LVMI, RWT, LVIDd, IVSd, LVPWd, LAD, A peak, E' peak, A' peak, and E/E' ratio were observed across the three groups.
- These findings indicate measurable cardiovascular remodeling and functional changes in hypertensive children.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric essential hypertension is associated with demonstrable target organ damage in the cardiovascular system.
- Noninvasive ultrasonography effectively identifies early structural and functional changes in the heart and blood vessels of hypertensive children.
- These findings underscore the importance of early detection and management of hypertension in pediatric populations.
Background:
Essential hypertension in adults may begin in childhood. The damages to the heart and blood vessels in children with essential hypertension are hidden and difficult to detect. We noninvasively examined changes in cardiovascular structure and function in children with hypertension at early stage using ultrasonography.
Methods:
All patients with essential hypertension admitted from March 2020 to May 2021 were classified into simple hypertension (group 1, n = 34) and hypertension co-existing with obesity (group 2, n = 11) isolation. Meanwhile 32 healthy children were detected as control heathly group (group 3). We used pulse-wave Doppler to measure carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (cfPWV), intimal-medial thickness (cIMT) and distensibility of carotid artery (CD). Cardiac structure and function (left atrial diameter [LAD], left ventricular mass [LVM], LVM index [LVMI], relative wall thicknes [RWT], end-diastolic left ventricular internal diameter [LVIDd], diastolic interventricular septum thickness [IVSd], diastolic left ventricular posterior wall thickness [LVPWd], root diameter of aorta [AO], E peak, A peak, E' peak, A' peak, E/E' ratio, and E/A ratio) were measured by echocardiography.
Results:
The cfPWV of children in group 1 and group 2 were significantly higher than healthy children in group 3. Significant differences were observed in LVM, LVMI, RWT, LVIDd, IVSd, LVPWd, LAD, A peak, E' peak, A' peak, and E/E' among three groups.
Conclusion:
Children and adolescents with essential hypertension demonstrate target organ damages in the heart and blood vessels.
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