P2.13 BLOOD PRESSURE PROFILE CHANGES BETWEEN 7TH AND 11TH YEAR OF LIFE IN CHILDREN BORN PREMATURELY WITH EXTREMELY LOW BIRTH WEIGHT IN COMPARISON TO CHILDREN BORN ON TIME

Abstract

There have been research trials analyzing the impact of prematurity on the prevalence of hypertension, however the prospective, long-time observation is uncommon. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension at the age of 7 and 11 years of regional cohort of preterms with birth weight ≤1000g. The study included 67 children with birth weight ≤1000g born in Malopolska. The control group consisted of 38 children born at term, matched for age. Each child underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurement twice – at the age of 7 and 11 years. The presence of hypertension based on two definitions: 1) Mean Arterial Pressure ≥95 percentile for gender and height; 2) number of individual measurements ≥95 percentile for gender, age and height >25% was estimated. At the age of 7 years preterm infants had significantly higher incidence of hypertension, defined on the basis of MAP (15%vs.0%; p<0.015), and on the percent of individual measurements (56%vs.33%, p<0.036). After taking into account the group of patients who received anti-HT treatment after first part of study, the incidence of hypertension at the age of 11 based on MAP was 19%vs.10% and based on individual measurements was 36,5%vs.24% (the differences are not statistically significant). In both time points a higher mean heart rate in the group of preterms was found (7 years of age: 93vs.87/min., p<0.001; 11 years of age 87vs.83/min, p=0.039). Children born prematurely are predisposed to hypertension in later life. Persistence of increased heart rate in former preterms was shown.