Oxygen therapy in premature low birth weight infants is associated with capillary loss and increases in blood pressure: a pilot study

Features of left ventricle longitudinal strain in children from one to five years old, born with low, very low, and extremely low body weight

Purpose. The study assessed left ventricle longitudinal strain of the endocardial, middle, and epicardial layers in children from one to five years old, born with low, very low, and extremely low body weight.Material and methods. The study was performed in 204 children aged from one to five years; of these, 53 children were prematurely born late in pregnancy, 103 children were born very preterm, and 48 children were born healthy and full-term. The left ventricle longitudinal strain of the endocardial, middle, and epicardial layers was assessed off-line using the Speckle Tracking Imaging-2D Strain technology.Results. Disturbance of the transmural gradient strain of left ventricle wall were detected in 11.32% of prematurely born late in pregnancy children and in 16.5% of very preterm children. A decrease of left ventricle segments strain was registered in 33.96% of children prematurely born late in pregnancy and in 18.44% very preterm children. In children of the same age, born healthy and full-term, transmural wall gradient disturbances and decrease of strain in left ventricle segments were not observed. In children prematurely born late in pregnancy, the disturbance of the transmural strain gradient of left ventricle and the decrease of strain in left ventricle segments are not associated with left ventricle remodeling.Conclusion. The development of the cardiovascular system in children of early and preschool age, born prematurely with low, very low, and extremely low body weight, is characterized by disturbances in the transmural strain gradient of left ventricle wall, due to the processes of postnatal growth and development of the child’s heart, which requires monitoring on an outpatient basis in polyclinic in childhood — by a pediatric cardiologist and a pediatrician, and in adulthood — by a cardiologist and therapist.

Birth weight influences differently on systolic and diastolic blood pressure in children and adolescents aged 8-15

Aim

Globally, hypertension is one of the main threats to public health and a significant risk factor predisposing individuals to various cardiovascular conditions. Hypertension in the young is particularly complex and challenging. Accumulating evidence has implicated that low birth weight is vital for elevated blood pressure, and birth weight was negatively correlated with blood pressure. However, fewer studies with conflicting results have addressed the associations between birth weight and blood pressure in children and adolescents, and there is no relevant research conducted in the NHANES population. The principal objective of this project was to investigate the relationship between birth weight and blood pressure in children and adolescents in NHANES.

Methods

A total of 7600 subjects aged 8 to15 were enrolled in the present study from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007–2018. Outcome variables were systolic blood pressure(SBP) and diastolic blood pressure(DBP). Birth weight was regarded as an independent variable. EmpowerStats software and R (version 3.4.3) were performed to examine the association between birth weight and SBP or DBP.

Results

Birth weight was negatively correlated with SBP in the fully-adjusted model(β = -0.02, 95%CI: -0.04 to -0.04, p = 0.0013), especially in non-Hispanic White (β = -0.03, 95%CI: -0.06 to -0.00,p = 0.0446), aged between 13 to 15(β = -0.03, 95%CI: -0.04 to -0.01, p = 0.0027), and male individuals(β = -0.03, 95%CI: -0.05 to -0.01, p = 0.0027). However, there was no unidirectional association between birth weight and DBP in the fully adjusted model(β = -0.01, 95%CI: -0.03 to 0.02, p = 0.5668) and in sub-analysis. An inverted U-shaped and J-shaped relationship was uncovered between birth weight and DBP in those aged 13 or above and Mexican Americans, respectively. The inflection point calculated by a recursive algorithm of birth weight in these groups was all 105 oz.

Conclusions

The current study identified that birth weight was negatively related to SBP but not significantly related to DBP in children and adolescents aged 8 to 15, highlighting different potential mechanisms behind high SBP and high DBP in the young. However, an inverted U-shaped and J-shaped relationship between birth weight and DBP was observed, suggesting that targeted intervention measures should be taken for different groups of people rather than generalizations.

The associations of low birth weight with primary hypertension in later life: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background:

The purpose of this study was to evaluate of the study the role of LBW on EH in children and by studying the existing published literature.

Materials and Methods:

A comprehensive literature search for original studies was conducted in Clarivate Analytics Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Embase until July 2019. The search used all of the main keywords and its synonyms include essential hypertension, primary hypertension, essential arterial hypertension, idiopathic hypertension, spontaneous hypertension; child, childhood, children, pediatric, pediatrics, infant, infancy, newborn, neonatal, adolescence, teenagers; and BW, newborn weight, neonatal weight, BW.

Results:

Twelve articles were eligible for the final evaluation. Due to the difference among studies in the report, studies were divided into two-part. The first part, articles were reported in the LBW and NBW groups (interested outcome were SBP and DBP), and the second part was composed as the EH and NR groups (interested outcome were LBW and NBW). In the first part, SMD for SBP was -1.09 with 95% CI (-1.91,-0.26), and was statistically significant (Z=2.58, P=0.010). As well, SMD for DBP was -0.68 with 95% CI (-1.32,-0.05) statistically significant (Z=2.10, P=0.036). In the second part, SMD for SBP was 0.77 with 95% CI (-0.85, 2.39), and was statistically significant (Z=0.93, P=0.352). Subgroup analysis was performed on the pre-term and full- term babies. SMD for SBP was -0.08 with 95% CI (-0.51, 0.35) in the pre-term, and the full-term was -2.07 with 95% CI (-3.47, -0.67). As well, SMD for DBP was -0.02 with 95% CI (-0.20, 0.17) in the preterm, and the term was -1.35 with 95% CI (-1.57, -1.13).

Conclusion:

Although findings of the correlation between BW and EHTN have conflicted. To our knowledge, this is the first report that attempts to a conclusion.