ANALYSIS OF HYPERTENSION IN CHILDREN POST RENAL-TRANSPLANTATION - A REPORT OF THE RICAN-PEDIATRIC-RENAL-TRANSPLANT-COOPERATIVE-STUDY (NAPRTCS)

Hypertension is common in children after renal transplantation and is associated with multiple factors. Data regarding the prevalence of pos t-transplant hypertension and the relationship between immunosuppressi ve drugs and the persistence of hypertension in a large population of North American children have not been available. This study was design ed by the North American Pediatric Renal Transplant Cooperative Study to evaluate in a large diverse multicenter population of children the prevalence of hy pertension post transplantation, the type of antihype rtensive medications used to treat this hypertension and to determine the relationship between the blood pressure control and the immunosupp ressive therapy. Analysis of 277 patients showed the following: (1) 70 % of recipients required antihypertensive medications 1 month post tra nsplant compared with 48% pre transplant; the incidence decreased to 5 9% at 24 months; (2) the majority of children received multiple drug t herapy to control blood pressure; (3) hypertension can be controlled e ffectively despite inherent etiological factors, such as allograft sou rce, prior hypertension and immunosuppressive therapy.