Blood Pressure Profile in the 7th and 11th Year of Life in Children Born Prematurely

Several research trials have analyzed the impact of prematurity on the prevalence of hypertension (HT). However, prospective long-term studies are lacking.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HT at the age of 7 and 11 years in a regional cohort of preterm infants with a birth weight of ≤ 1000 g.
Patients and This study included 67 children with a birth weight of ≤ 1000 g who were born in Malopolska between September 2002 and August 2004. The control group consisted of 38 children born at term, matched for age. Each child underwent 24-h ambulatory blood pressure measurement (ABPM) twice, once at the age of 7 and again at 11 years. The presence of HT was estimated according to the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and a number of individual measurements.
At aged 7 years, preterm infants had a significantly higher incidence of HT, defined on the basis of MAP (15% vs. 0%; P Children born prematurely are predisposed to HT in later life, in addition to the persistence of an increased HR.