Arterial Compliance Measurement in Overweight and Hypertensive Children.

Objectives: To investigate the pulse wave velocity (PWV) and augmentation index (Alx), measures of arterial stiffness, in relation to hypertension and obesity, the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.

Methods: Two groups of pediatric patients, 31 children and adolescents with hypertension and 85 with overweight, were analysed and compared to the control group (50 healthy individuals). Subjects were sampled by opportunity sampling at the Department of Pediatrics, Maribor. In each patient, blood pressure, anthropometrical parameters and PWV measurements using the applanation tonometry technique were performed.

Results: There was a significant correlation between PWV and age (r = 0.461, p = 0.001) in the control group, whereas no correlation was obtained between PWV and body mass index (BMI) or central mean arterial pressure (CMAP). In the hypertensive group, PWV only correlated with CMAP (r = 0.496, p = 0.005). A significant correlation was found in the overweight group between PWV and both age and BMI (r = 0.484, p < 0.001 and r = 0.347, p = 0.001, respectively). Alx results were not taken into consideration.

Conclusions: The results of this pilot study show that overweight and hypertensive children and adolescents are associated with less compliant arteries than their healthy peers, which could be used for screening of patients with expected early cardiovascular risk.