Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and hypertensive target-organ damage in children.

In contrast to the large number of studies relating high blood pressure to morbidity and mortality in adulthood, relatively few studies evaluating outcomes of children with hypertension have been conducted. Results of recent studies evaluating hypertensive target-organ injury in childhood suggest that early abnormalities, including left ventricular hypertrophy, glomerular hyperfiltration, and retinopathy, occur more commonly than had formerly been believed, and in children with mild elevations of blood pressure. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring may be an important tool for use in evaluating hypertensive target organ damage in children and adolescents.