title: Blood pressure values in 8-12 year old children with a history of intrauterine growth retardation.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epidemiological studies have found that intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) is closely related to hypertension and is associated with a reduced number of nephrons that may be a predisposing factor for the development of hypertension.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether blood pressure levels of children with a history of IUGR are higher than those of children without IUGR.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diastolic, systolic and mean arterial blood pressure levels were measured in 64 children aged 8-12 years old with a history of IUGR (mean birth weight 1780 +/- 422 g) and compared with 64 age and gender-matched controls who had a normal birth weight (mean 3134 +/- 594 g).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Contrary to previous reports, systolic blood pressure values were significantly lower in the IUGR group compared to the controls (91.6 +/- 11.3 vs. 96.6 +/- 13.9, P = 0.027). There was no difference in diastolic blood pressure values. In the IUGR group, systolic blood pressure correlated significantly with current weight (P < 0.01) and body mass index (P < 0.05), and diastolic blood pressure with weight gain between age 2 and 4 years (P < 0.05). None of the blood pressure values correlated with birth weight.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Children born with IUGR have lower systolic blood pressure levels than matched controls at age 8-12 years. These data indicate that postnatal weight gain in this group has a greater impact on systolic blood pressure than birth weight.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Child Development and Pediatric Neurology Unit, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel. afatal@post.tau.ac.il
authors.forename: Aviva
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fattal-Valevski
authors.forename: Haim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bassan
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bernheim
authors.forename: Bela
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Redianu
authors.forename: Yael
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Leitner
authors.forename: Shaul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Harel
mesh_terms: D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003971:Diastole; D005260:Female; D005317:Fetal Growth Retardation / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013599:Systole; D015430:Weight Gain