All issues > Volume 49(7); 2006

Original Article

Korean J Pediatr. 2006;49(7):769-776. Published online July 15, 2006.

Pulse wave velocity and ankle brachial index in adolescents with essential hypertension

Sun Young SY Joo¹, Ki Young KY Cho¹, Su Jin SJ Cho¹, Young Mi YM Hong¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Young Mi YM Hong ,Email: hongym@chollian.net

Abstract

Purpose
: Pulse wave velocity(PWV) and ankle brachial index(ABI) are not only noninvasive methods used to assess arterial stiffness in adults, but also useful, simple ways to estimate the severity of hypertension, end stage renal disease and atherosclerosis in adults. But there are few studies on PWV and ABI in adolescents and children. In this study, hypertensive adolescents were compared to normal individuals to find out the usefulness of PWV as the index of progress in the disease.
Methods
: 413 teenagers were divided into three groups. The first group consisted of adolescents that only had hypertension(Group 1 : 23 teenagers). The second group consisted of the adolescents who had hypertension with obesity(Group 2 : 17 teenagers), and the last group was the normal subjects(Group 3 : 328 teenagers). Weight, height and body mass index were measured. Simultaneous measurements of systolic, diastolic and average blood pressure were obtained from the four extremities. PWV, ABI, ejection time and preejection period were also measured.
Results
: Right brachial-ankle PWV was significantly higher in both group 1 and group 2 compared with group 3, and significantly higher in group 2 compared with group 1. Likewise, left brachial- ankle PWV also showed significantly higher values in both group 1 and group 2 compared with group 3, and also higher values in group 2 compared with group 1. Positive correlations were found between the systolic, diastolic, average blood pressure and PWV. There were also positive correlations between the blood pressure and weight, body mass index.
Conclusion
: Higher PWV was demonstrated in adolescents with essential hypertension compared to normal subjects. Follow-up study is needed to evaluate the progress.

Keywords :Pulse wave velocity , Hypertension , Adolescents