White coat hypertension in children

Abstract

Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) has become more widely used in the assessment of elevated blood pressure in children. The accurate diagnosis of white coat hypertension (WCH) is particularly important in children because detection of elevated blood pressure often results in expensive and invasive diagnostic procedures to detect underlying disease. Recent normative pediatric data have both enhanced our ability to interpret ABPM results in pediatric patients and increased awareness that children suffer from WCH as has already been reported in adults. The few studies of WCH in children report a prevalence ranging from 44-88%, depending on the choice of threshold values for normalcy. When persistent hypertension is confirmed by three blood pressure measurements on three different occasions, ABPM should be performed as part of the initial evaluation. If hypertension is confirmed by ABPM, further evaluation should be tailored to the individual patient depending on the age, severity of hypertension, associated risk factors, and presence of end-organ injury.