Infantile arterial hypertension: A diagnostic challenge in paediatrics

Abstract

Arterial Hypertension prevalence (HTN) has significantly increased in paediatric patients, mainly in older children and teenagers. In these subjects the most common type is essential or primary HTN. However, in infants HTN prevalence is significantly lower and is almost always due to secondary causes, which can be potentially severe. Hence the importance of its detection, in order to establish an etiological diagnosis and provide an appropriate treatment, which usually requires a specialist physician. In addition to the technical difficulties of blood pressure measurement in infants, the lack of recommendations to perform a systematic screening in this age range and the absence of well-established normal values turns infancy-onset HTN into a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for the physician. By means of the exposition of three infancy-onset HTN cases, the aim is to increase the paediatrician’s awareness of this pathology and also to provide information about its diagnostic and therapeutic approach, dealing also with pharmacological measures of treatment.