The importance of hypertension has been recognized from the complications it produces in adults, mainly stroke, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, and renal failure.1-10 Similar health consequences have been reported in a few children with severe hypertension. As a result of these health concerns, children's health care providers have been encouraged to determine and record blood pressures of their young patients. It has become customary to consider hypertension in adults in terms of an empirically designated diastolic blood pressure. Is this practice valid? Should this practice be applied to children? Unfortunately, these questions cannot be answered in reference to children, because there have been no long-term studies relating height of blood pressure to vascular sequelae in children.
D42 Effect of long term nifedipine gits vs. verapamil SR on clinic, ambulatory and exercise blood pressure in patients with moderate to severe hypertension
