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Jones L, Park J, Blair J, Hawcutt DB, Lip GYH, Shantsila A. 20 years on - the measurement of blood pressure and detection of hypertension in children and adolescents: a national descriptive survey. J Hum Hypertens 2023; 37:1086-1090. [PMID: 37454233 PMCID: PMC10739225 DOI: 10.1038/s41371-023-00846-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/29/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
In 1997 a survey identified a general lack of standardisation of blood pressure (BP) measurement and little consensus on the criteria for diagnosing hypertension amongst paediatricians. We have conducted a new online survey in 2021, to compare clinical practice between the two time periods. A national quality improvement survey was approved by the GAPRUKI committee and then circulated to consultant-grade general paediatricians. 125 analysable replies from 34 different sites were received and compared with the 1997 data. 106 (84.8%) reported clinic nurse involvement in BP measurement, more than twice than reported previously (40.6%). Most paediatricians (53.6%) now rely on oscillometric devices, whereas the mercury sphygmomanometer was favoured previously (82.7%). If assessing BP manually (n = 89), most (79.8%) now use Korotkoff phase V as the auscultatory endpoint for diastolic BP (phase IV was previously used (52.1%)). Diagnostic criteria of hypertension, the criteria (≥95th centile for gender, age and height) were constant, and 100% of paediatricians diagnosed it using systolic BP, but only 43 (34.4%) used diastolic BP, a decrease from 79.4% previously. Ambulatory BP Monitoring was six times more available than in 1997 (81.6% vs 13.6%). Similar to previous findings, only 12 (9.6%) paediatricians would manage hypertensive patients themselves, however 82 (72.6%) would keep general paediatric input. There have been important changes in the assessment of BP in children, including increased nurse involvement and greater use of technology. However, fewer paediatricians are responding to high diastolic pressures than twenty years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lily Jones
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Julie Park
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- Department of Endocrinology, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Joanne Blair
- Department of Endocrinology, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Daniel B Hawcutt
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom
- NIHR Alder Hey Clinical Research Facility, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Gregory Y H Lip
- Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science at University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Alena Shantsila
- Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science at University of Liverpool, Liverpool John Moores University and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
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Coulthard MG. Managing severe hypertension in children. Pediatr Nephrol 2023; 38:3229-3239. [PMID: 36862252 PMCID: PMC10465398 DOI: 10.1007/s00467-023-05896-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Revised: 01/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
Severe childhood hypertension is uncommon and frequently not recognised and is best defined as a systolic blood pressure (SBP) above the stage 2 threshold of the 95th centile + 12 mmHg. If no signs of end-organ damage are present, this is urgent hypertension which can be managed by the slow introduction of oral or sublingual medication, but if signs are present, the child has emergency hypertension (or hypertensive encephalopathy if they include irritability, visual impairment, fits, coma, or facial palsy), and treatment must be started promptly to prevent progression to permanent neurological damage or death. However, detailed evidence from case series shows that the SBP must be lowered in a controlled manner over about 2 days by infusing short-acting intravenous hypotensive agents, with saline boluses ready in case of overshoot, unless the child had documented normotension within the last day. This is because sustained hypertension may increase pressure thresholds of cerebrovascular autoregulation which take time to reverse. A recent PICU study that suggested otherwise was significantly flawed. The target is to reduce the admission SBP by its excess, to just above the 95th centile, in three equal steps lasting about ≥ 6 h, 12 h, and finally ≥ 24 h, before introducing oral therapy. Few of the current clinical guidelines are comprehensive, and some advise reducing the SBP by a fixed percentage, which may be dangerous and has no evidence base. This review suggests criteria for future guidelines and argues that these should be evaluated by establishing prospective national or international databases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Malcolm G Coulthard
- Great North Children's Hospital, Queen Victoria Road, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 4LP, UK.
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Smits A, Annaert P, Cavallaro G, De Cock PAJG, de Wildt SN, Kindblom JM, Lagler FB, Moreno C, Pokorna P, Schreuder MF, Standing JF, Turner MA, Vitiello B, Zhao W, Weingberg AM, Willmann R, van den Anker J, Allegaert K. Current knowledge, challenges and innovations in developmental pharmacology: A combined conect4children Expert Group and European Society for Developmental, Perinatal and Paediatric Pharmacology White Paper. Br J Clin Pharmacol 2022; 88:4965-4984. [PMID: 34180088 PMCID: PMC9787161 DOI: 10.1111/bcp.14958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2021] [Revised: 05/22/2021] [Accepted: 05/30/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Developmental pharmacology describes the impact of maturation on drug disposition (pharmacokinetics, PK) and drug effects (pharmacodynamics, PD) throughout the paediatric age range. This paper, written by a multidisciplinary group of experts, summarizes current knowledge, and provides suggestions to pharmaceutical companies, regulatory agencies and academicians on how to incorporate the latest knowledge regarding developmental pharmacology and innovative techniques into neonatal and paediatric drug development. Biological aspects of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion throughout development are summarized. Although this area made enormous progress during the last two decades, remaining knowledge gaps were identified. Minimal risk and burden designs allow for optimally informative but minimally invasive PK sampling, while concomitant profiling of drug metabolites may provide additional insight in the unique PK behaviour in children. Furthermore, developmental PD needs to be considered during drug development, which is illustrated by disease- and/or target organ-specific examples. Identifying and testing PD targets and effects in special populations, and application of age- and/or population-specific assessment tools are discussed. Drug development plans also need to incorporate innovative techniques such as preclinical models to study therapeutic strategies, and shift from sequential enrolment of subgroups, to more rational designs. To stimulate appropriate research plans, illustrations of specific PK/PD-related as well as drug safety-related challenges during drug development are provided. The suggestions made in this joint paper of the Innovative Medicines Initiative conect4children Expert group on Developmental Pharmacology and the European Society for Developmental, Perinatal and Paediatric Pharmacology, should facilitate all those involved in drug development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Smits
- Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Neonatal intensive Care unit, University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Pieter Annaert
- Drug Delivery and Disposition, Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Giacomo Cavallaro
- Neonatal intensive care unit, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Grande Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Pieter A J G De Cock
- Department of Pediatric Intensive Care, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium.,Heymans Institute of Pharmacology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.,Department of Pharmacy, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Saskia N de Wildt
- Intensive Care and Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Radboud Institute Health Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Jenny M Kindblom
- Pediatric Clinical Research Center, Queen Silvia Children's Hospital, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Florian B Lagler
- Institute for Inherited Metabolic Diseases and Department of Pediatrics, Paracelsus Medical University, Clinical Research Center Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Carmen Moreno
- Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, School of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, IiSGM, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain
| | - Paula Pokorna
- Intensive Care and Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Department of Pharmacology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.,Department of Paediatrics and Inherited Metabolic Disorders, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic.,Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Michiel F Schreuder
- Department of Pediatric Nephrology, Radboud University Medical Center, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Amalia Children's Hospital, Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Joseph F Standing
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.,Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.,Institute for Infection and Immunity, St George's, University of London, London, UK
| | - Mark A Turner
- Department of Women's and Children's Health, Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool Health Partners, Liverpool, UK
| | - Benedetto Vitiello
- Division of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry, Department of Public Health and Pediatrics, University of Torino, Torino, Italy
| | - Wei Zhao
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology (Ministry of Education), School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, China.,Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China.,Clinical Research Centre, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Provincial Qianfoshan Hospital, Jinan, China
| | | | | | - John van den Anker
- Intensive Care and Pediatric Surgery, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.,Paediatric Pharmacology and Pharmacometrics, University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB), University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.,Division of Clinical Pharmacology, Children's National Hospital, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Karel Allegaert
- Department of Development and Regeneration, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.,Department of Hospital Pharmacy, Erasmus MC University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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