AMBULATORY BLOOD-PRESSURE MONITORING IN CHILDREN

Twenty-four hour noninvasive ambulatory blood pressure measurements were obtained during usual daily activities from 54 healthy normotensive children aged seven to sixteen. Records were considered acceptable in 50 cases, with a mean of 60 valid readings of blood pressure per child (range 46-71). Systolic, diastolic and mean blood pressure were analyzed for the total group and selectivity in relation to age and height. The mean of the readings during the twenty-four hours recording were 111 +/- 9 mmHg for the systolic and 64 +/- mm/Hg for the diastolic blood pressure, diurnal readings being greater than nocturnal. The day/night quotient was always and greater in the younger and smaller children greater than one. The -blood pressure burden-, considered as the percent of readings over the 97.5 th percentile for height, ranged from 0-21% for systolic and between 0-29% for diastolic blood pressure.