The Prevalence of Hypertension in Children with Spina Bifida
Posted on Tue, Mar 08, 2011
Acta Pediatrica, 03/08/2011
Mazur L et al. – Children with spina bifida have a significantly higher prevalence of hypertension than children in the general population. Age, gender, and height based norms are important for the early identification and treatment of hypertension in children.
Methods
- All patients (n=123) seen in the Spina Bifida Clinic at Shriners Hospital in Houston, Texas were reviewed for age, gender, ethnicity, type and level of neural tube defect, height, weight, and blood pressure.
- Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure or diastolic blood pressure >95th percentile for age, gender, and height on >3 occasions.
- Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and from a Houston–based study were used for comparison.