title: Etiology of hypertension in children and adolescents.
abstract: While most hypertension in children has been previously considered secondary to renal, cardiovascular or endocrine etiology, a substantial number of children aged 6 to 20 years are now diagnosed with primary or essential hypertension. Hypertension in children and adolescents seems to be increasing over the past two decades. This is attributed at least in part to an increased prevalence of overweight in this population. Essential hypertension in childhood is a diagnosis arrived at by excluding the known causes of secondary hypertension. This paper will discuss the etiology of hypertension in children and adolescents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, American University Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. ss19@aub.edu.lb
authors.forename: Sami A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sanjad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000209:etiology*