[24-hour blood pressure measurement in children and adults with type I diabetes mellitus: relation to duration of diabetes, obesity, albuminuria].

Early antihypertensive therapy in patients with diabetes mellitus reduces cardiovascular risk and improves long-term prognosis. Therefore, mildly hypertensive patients have to be discriminated from patients with "white coat" hypertension. 24-h-blood pressure profiles were recorded in 153 patients (age 7.9-26 years, duration of diabetes 0-21 years). The fraction of elevated blood pressure readings allows to classify these profiles independent of the age of the patient. This parameter was not related to either duration of diabetes or nocturnal excretion of albumin. In contrast, blood pressure correlated significantly with age- und sex-adjusted weight (z-score). Among 38 patients with elevated blood pressure recordings during outpatient visits, 24 (63%) displayed a normal 24-h-profile (less than 30% of blood pressure values are above the 95% limit for the respective age). These data indicate that hypertension might be independent of the metabolic derangement during the first years of diabetes.