An enlarged heart increases the likelihood of death from heart disease in adults. Now it seems that 8% of children and adolescents with high blood pressure - perhaps in 1250 in the United States - also have a disturbing thickening of the heart muscle. The discovery, published in the latest issue of Traffic , suggests that testing for heart enlargement must indicate which children need a more aggressive treatment of risk factors for heart disease.
specifically enlargement-- heart's main pumping chamber of the heart, the left ventricle - was first linked to an increased risk of fatal heart disease in 190, as part of the Framingham study massif of heart disease. Since then, doctors have found that treatment of other risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure and obesity, can reduce the relative size of the left ventricle.
Wondering how early in life from this disease develops, cardiologist Stephen Daniels and colleagues from the University Hospital Medical Center of Cincinnati Children interviewed 130 children who had been admitted to the Clinical Hypertension hospital and thus may be more likely to have an enlarged left ventricle. To calculate the relative size of the heart of each child, the researchers scanned every heart with ultrasound. Eight percent of children aged 6 to 23 has reached or exceeded the threshold that defines a high-risk adults. "It is surprising because it suggests that this process is already underway, and these children can be directed to paths for future cardiovascular disease," says Daniels.
Other cardiologists say the test should help guide treatment as well. Samuel Gidding of Northwestern University says children with both high blood pressure and enlargement of the ventricle could be dealt with not only a weight loss program over diet healthy, but also with drugs that reduce blood pressure. "to this very small group of children who clearly detrimental to their heart, we need to be more aggressive in the treatment," he said.
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