An American Heart Association scientific statement reviewing new evidence and guidance on ambulatory blood pressure monitoring of children and adolescents has been published in the Association's journal Hypertension.
Statement Highlights:
- The statement provides simplified classifications for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) in children and adolescents. ABPM is designed to evaluate a person's blood pressure during daily living activities, including times of physical activity, sleep and stress.
- The new classifications come with guidance on when ABPM is appropriate and how to interpret monitoring results.
- Children who have medical diagnoses, such as kidney disease, may have normal office blood pressure but significant abnormalities noted on ABPM. Without taking ABPM into account, this can lead to a more benign prognosis.
- Elevated childhood blood pressure is linked to heart and kidney damage during youth and adulthood, as well as brain changes associated with worse cognitive function.
- ABPM helps ease concern of spikes in blood pressure caused by measurement anxiety, known as white coat hypertension, and helps assess daily blood pressure patterns.
- ABPM is used to confirm whether a child or adolescent with high blood pressure during a clinic measurement truly has hypertension.
More information: Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring in Children and Adolescents: 2022 Update: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association, Hypertension (2022). DOI: 10.1161/HYP.0000000000000215
Journal information: Hypertension
Provided by American Heart Association