Burden of Hypertension and Abnormal Glomerular Permeability in Hypertensive School Children

Background: childhood hypertension has been associated with target-organ damage in young adults. it is often asymptomatic in both children and adolescents; when persistent, and long-standing, it could be a significant risk factor for kidney damage and increased glomerular permeability. objectives: burden of hypertension and its impact on glomerular permeability were prospectively determined in randomly recruited primary school children. patients and methods: blood pressure (bp) measurement was performed by the auscultation method, and abnormal glomerular permeability was assessed by dipstick testing of urine for persistent proteinuria and/or hematuria for three months in hypertensive children. results: of 1,335 pupils aged 10.02.4 (6.0 - 14.0) years, 33 (2.5%) were hypertensive. overall mean systolic/diastolic bp was 125.6 6.5/81.73.3 (range: 114.0 - 140.0/80.0 - 90.0)mmhg. nine (27.3%) had combined systolic and diastolic hypertension, 126.75.7/80.0 - 80.00.0 (120.0 - 130.0/80.0 - 80.0)mmhg. isolated systolic hypertension, 125.46.7 (114.0 - 140.0)mmhg,was present in 14 (42.4%), whereas 10 (30.3%) had isolated diastolic hypertension, 82.0  3.5 (80.0 - 90.0) mmhg. mean systolic and diastolic bp were 131.0  3.3 (130.0 - 140.0) mmhg and 86.54.43 (80.0 - 90.0) mmhg, respectively. according to the dipstick test, none of the hypertensive pupils showed urinalysis evidence of proteinuria and/or hematuria after three months of testing. conclusions: although the burden of hypertension was 2.5%, the dipstick method did not detect any hypertension-related abnormal glomerular permeability in the school children.