Related Experiment Videos
Blood pressure in a high school population. II. Clinical profile of the juvenile hypertensive
Insights
Essential hypertension in adolescents presents a distinct clinical profile, including obesity and altered cardiac function. These findings aid in monitoring young patients with high blood pressure.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pediatrics
- Hypertension Research
Background:
- Adolescent hypertension is a growing concern with potential long-term cardiovascular implications.
- Identifying specific clinical markers can aid in early detection and management of hypertension in young individuals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify a distinctive clinical profile in hypertensive high school students compared to normotensive controls.
- To assess cardiac function and hemodynamic responses to exercise in adolescents with persistent hypertension.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated 114 hypertensive and 71 normotensive high school students (ages 14-18).
- Utilized blood chemistry, urinalysis, chest roentgenograms, echocardiography, and systolic time intervals.
- Assessed hemodynamic response to exercise, including blood pressure and heart rate recovery.
Main Results:
- Hypertensive adolescents exhibited obesity, elevated triglycerides, and electrocardiogram/vectorcardiogram findings of basilar hypertrophy.
- Systolic time intervals revealed shorter electromechanical systole and pre-ejection period, with a lower pre-ejection period/left ventricular ejection time ratio.
- Echocardiography showed depressed volume indices and elevated cardiac contractile functions; exercise tests indicated higher blood pressures and slower heart rate recovery.
Conclusions:
- A specific clinical profile is associated with persistent hypertension in adolescents.
- These findings can assist in monitoring the progression of essential hypertension in young individuals.
- The identified markers may offer a means to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions.
Abstract:
One-hundred-fourteen hypertensive high school students were evaluated to determine whether a distinctive clinical profile could be identified; 71 normotensive students served as controls. Selected blood chemistry determinations, urinalysis, and chest roentgenograms were done to help rule out secondary causes of hypertension. Left ventricular function was assessed by echocardiography and systolic time intervals. The hemodynamic response to exercise was also evaluated. A significant number of the subjects 14 to 18 years of age with persistent systolic and/or diastolic pressure 1.65 SD above the mean for age and sex showed the following: obesity; elevated serum triglyceride concentration; basilar hypertrophy by electrocardiogram/vectorcardiogram; electromechanical systole and pre-ejection period shorter, and the ratio of the pre-ejection period over the left ventricular ejection time lower, than mean for age and sex as determined by systolic time intervals; volume indices depressed and cardiac contractile functions elevated as determined by echocardiography; higher blood pressure at start of exercise stress test and higher peak systolic and diastolic pressures during test, and a slower return of heart rate to base line level after the test. The above findings should be useful in following the course of a young individual with essential hypertension and may provide a means of evaluating therapeutic intervention.