title: Cardiovascular risk among hypertensive adolescents and the potential benefit of a screen-and-treat strategy.
abstract: To evaluate whether screening for hypertension should start early in life, information on the risk of diseases associated with the level of blood pressure in childhood or adolescence is needed. The study by Leiba et al. that is reported in the current issue of Pediatric Nephrology demonstrates convincingly that hypertensive adolescents are at higher risk of cardiovascular death than normotensive adolescents. Nevertheless, it can be shown that this excess risk is not sufficient to justify a screen-and-treat strategy. Since the large majority of cardiovascular deaths occur among normotensive adolescents, measures for primordial prevention of cardiovascular diseases could have a much larger impact at the population level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Clemens
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bloetzer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Biopôle 2, Route de la Corniche 10, 1010, Lausanne, Switzerland. arnaud.chiolero@chuv.ch.|Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. arnaud.chiolero@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Arnaud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiolero
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D010372:Pediatrics; D012307:Risk Factors
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Hypertension; Primordial prevention; Screening