Hypertension in hemodialyzed children

Hypertension (HTN) is one of the most common sequelae of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in children. Dialysis-related HTN is predominantly caused by chronic volume overload, and as such the blood pressure (BP) can be reduced and/or brought down to normal in a sizable number of patients with improved salt and fluid balance. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of HTN among children on hemodialysis (HD) and to evaluate the correlation of HTN with some demographic data. This is a prospective study performed on forty pediatric patients with CKD receiving maintenance HD in three centers in Baghdad. HTN was defined as BP ≥95 th percentile for age, height, and sex or use of antihypertensive medications. HTN was recorded in 27 patients on HD (67.5%), while the BP was normal in the other 13 patients (32.5%). There was no significant correlation between HTN and gender, age, or etiology of CKD. Duration of the HD session, number of sessions per week, total duration on HD, and blood flow rate also had no statistical correlation with HTN. Only serum albumin showed a significant correlation with BP.