Increased prevalence of hypertension in paediatric turner syndrome: a retrospective study

Girls and women with Turner Syndrome (TS) are known to be at increased risk of aortic dissection, a condition for which hypertension is a modifiable risk factor. Our aim was to determine the frequency of hypertension in girls attending a tertiary paediatric TS clinic and its association with clinical characteristics. Retrospective analysis of clinical data was conducted for girls with TS attending the dedicated paediatric TS clinic at the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow, between 1976-2023. Blood pressure (BP) was converted to centiles according to age and height. Hypertensive range BPs were defined as BPs ≥ 95th centile and pre-hypertensive range BPs were defined as BPs between the 90th-95th centiles, with measurements on 2 consecutive occasions. 184 girls with TS were included and BP data were available for a total of 172 (93%) with a median (range) age at the time of BP attainment of 12 (4, 18) years. Of these, 38 (22%) had congenital heart disease and 48 (28%) had an existing renal anomaly. The prevalence of hypertensive range BP at clinic within this cohort was 50% (n = 86), with median age of onset at 12 (4, 17) years of age. Pre-hypertensive range BPs were identified in 12 (7%). In total, 14/86 (15%) had ongoing high BP and were prescribed anti-hypertensive treatment. There is an increased prevalence of hypertension within the paediatric TS population compared to the general paediatric population. Early management of blood pressure in this group is likely to reduce cardiovascular disease burden.