Rr. Huxley et al., The role of size at birth and postnatal catch-up growth in determining systolic blood pressure: a systematic review of the literature, J HYPERTENS, 18(7), 2000, pp. 815-831
Citations number
94
Categorie Soggetti
Cardiovascular & Respiratory Systems","Cardiovascular & Hematology Research
Objective To conduct a systematic review in order to (i) summarize the rela
tionship between birthweight and blood pressure, following numerous publica
tions in the last 3 years, (ii) assess whether other measures of size at bi
rth are related to blood pressure, and (iii) study the role of postnatal ca
tch-up growth in predicting blood pressure.
Data identification All papers published between March 1996 and March 2000
that examined the relationship between birth weight and systolic blood pres
sure were identified and combined with the papers examined in a previous re
view.
Subjects More than 444 000 male and female subjects aged 0-84 years of all
ages and races,
Results Eighty studies described the relationship of blood pressure with bi
rth weight The majority of the studies in children, adolescents and adults
reported that blood pressure fell with increasing birth weight, the size of
the effect being approximately 2 mmHg/kg, Head circumference was the only
other birth measurement to be most consistently associated with blood press
ure, the magnitude of the association being a decrease in blood pressure by
approximately 0.5 mmHg/cm, Skeletal and non-skeletal postnatal catch-up gr
owth were positively associated with blood pressure, with the highest blood
pressures occurring in individuals of low birth weight but high rates of g
rowth subsequently.
Conclusions Both birth weight and head circumference at birth are inversely
related to systolic blood pressure, The relationship is present in adolesc
ence but attenuated compared to both the pre- and post-adolescence periods.
Accelerated postnatal growth is also associated with raised blood pressure
. J Hypertens 2000, 18:815-831 (C) Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.