Document Type

Review

Publication Date

1-1-2011

Description

Primary hypertension in children is increasing in prevalence with many cases likely going undiagnosed. The prevalence is currently estimated at between 3%-5% in the United States and may be higher in certain ethnic groups. Primary hypertension once felt to be rare in children is now considered to be about five times more common than secondary hypertension. This review provides information to guide physicians through an organized approach to: 1) screening children and adolescents for hypertension during routine visits; 2) using normative percentile data for diagnosis and classification; 3) performing a clinical evaluation to identify the presence of co-morbidities; 4) initiating a plan of care including subsequent follow-up blood pressure measurements therapeutic lifestyle changes and pharmacologic therapies.

Copyright Statement

© the author(s), publisher and licensee Libertas Academica Ltd.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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