Endocrine causes of systemic hypertension in children and adolescents: a clinical review

Hypertension has been well recognized as a major contributor of chronic cardiovascular disease, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality not only in adults but also in children and adolescents. Primary or essential hypertension refers to cases where no underlying etiology is apparent for the high blood pressure, and accounts for a majority of the patients. Secondary hypertension refers to a much smaller group of patients in whom the blood pressure elevation may be attributed to an underlying cause. With improved diagnostic techniques, some cases of previously diagnosed essential hypertension may be found to have an underlying etiology. Endocrine causes account for a relatively small proportion of all patients with hypertension. In the following discussion, only secondary hypertension due to endocrine-related causes will be discussed.