Hypertension screening in the follow-up of premature infants

Results of hypertension screening using the Doppler technique in a group of premature infants following discharge from an intensive care nursery are reported. Systolic blood pressure (BP) was measured at follow-up in 79/99 premature infants who were cared for in the special care nursery over a 9-month period. The mean BP was 99.3 ± 2.0 (SEM) mm Hg at a mean age of 14.7 ± 1.3 weeks; mean age corrected for 40 weeks of gestation was 7.4 ± 1.3 weeks. Seven infants (8.9%) with BP greater than 113 on three separate occasions were identified as hypertensive. Three of these hypertensive infants were found to have a specific etiology requiring treatment: neuroblastoma, coarctation of the aorta, and unilateral ureteropelvic junction obstruction. No difference was found between the hypertensive and normotensive infants for a variety of perinatal and neonatal factors, including the presence or duration of an umbilical arterial catheter. These data suggest that the premature infant may be at risk for the development of hypertension. In the future, neonatal follow-up programs may find hypertension screening a useful part of their evaluation.