Evaluation of subclinical changes in recently diagnosed pediatric hypertension patients without hypertensive...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pediatrics
• Cardiology

Background:

• Pediatric hypertension (HT) is a growing concern with potential long-term health implications.
• Early detection of subclinical changes is crucial for managing pediatric HT.
• Ocular structures may reflect systemic vascular changes associated with hypertension.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate subclinical choroidal and retinal changes in treatment-naive pediatric hypertension patients.
• To compare ocular parameters between essential HT and renal-induced HT in children.
• To assess the relationship between hypertension and choroidal thickness in pediatric subjects.

Main Methods:

• Prospective case-control study involving 62 pediatric HT patients (10-16 years) and 62 controls.
• Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) used for macula and choroid measurements.
• Choroidal thickness measured at subfoveal, mean nasal, and mean temporal locations.

Main Results:

• Significantly lower choroidal thickness (ChT) observed in pediatric HT patients compared to controls (p < 0.001).
• No significant difference in central macular thickness (CMT) or mean macular thickness (MMT) between groups.
• Subfoveal ChT, mean ChT, and CMT were lower in renal-induced HT than essential HT (p < 0.001, p=0.04, p=0.014).
• Weak correlation between mean temporal ChT and systolic blood pressure (SBP) in renal HT group (r=-0.464, p=0.013).

Conclusions:

• Choroidal thickness reduction occurs in the subclinical phase of pediatric hypertension.
• Renal-induced hypertension has a more pronounced effect on choroidal thickness than essential hypertension in children.
• Ocular imaging may serve as a non-invasive tool for assessing hypertension-related vascular changes in pediatric patients.