title: Aortic pressure wave reflection in children.
abstract: Aortic pressure wave reflection is one of the risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease in adults, and the degree of pressure wave reflection increases with aging. However, enhanced pressure wave reflection has also been reported in infants and children. The purpose of this study was to clarify pressure wave reflection during childhood and to determine the reference for the augmentation index, which is one of the most useful parameters used to represent the degree of aortic pressure wave reflection in children. This study enrolled 72 patients with normal aortic circulation. The aortic pressure waveform was recorded using a pressure sensor-mounted catheter, and the augmentation index was thus calculated. The augmentation index tended to decrease with increasing age until around 15 years of age and then increased thereafter. For children below 15 years of age, multiple regression analysis revealed a significant negative correlation between body height and augmentation index. In children, increases in aortic pressure wave reflection are probably attributable to changes in body height.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Kita-ku, Sapporo, Japan. murat@seagreen.ocn.ne.jp
authors.forename: Tomoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Atsuhito
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takeda
authors.forename: Kohta
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takei
authors.forename: Michihiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ueno
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yakuwa
authors.forename: Hirokuni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamazawa
authors.forename: Takuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Furukawa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D001011:Aorta / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001827:Body Height / Q000502:physiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006343:Heart Septal Defects / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology; D012039:Regional Blood Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis