[Correlation between essential hypertension and carotid intima media thickness in children].

UNLABELLED: Essential hypertension is no longer un uncommon disease in children. This study try to determine if carotid intima thickness is increased in children with essential hypertension.

MATERIAL AND METHOD: This subjects are compared with control group with normal blood pressure. The study group consists of 78 children with essential hypertension; there were excluded cases with secondary hypertension. These children had carotid intima media thickness, left ventricular mass index and body mass index performed. In control group there were 53 subjects and there were performed the same investigations for them.

RESULTS: Sixtyfour cases (82.05%) from study group had obesity (body mass index > or = 85 percentile). Left ventricular mass index was increased in 40 cases (51.28%). Increased carotid intima media thickness was found in fiftyone subjects (65.38%) in the group of hypertensive children and it range between 0.52 si 0.69 mm. In the control group carotid intima media thickness varies between 0.32 si 0.54 mm. The carotid intima media thickness correlated with sistolic blood pressure (P = 0.00000), with diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.000002), with body mass index (p = 0.00000) and with body mass index(p = 0,000001).

CONCLUSION: The study could not state if increased carotid intima media thickness is due to hypertension or to obesity, because in children there is a strong association between these two diseases. Anyway, evaluation of this parameter may offer information about early endothelial disfunction.