A Closer Look at the Latest United States and European Pediatric Hypertension Guidelines and its Impact on Local Practice

Abstract

The tracking phenomenon of childhood hypertension (HTN) is widely recognized. Large population-based longitudinal studies showed that a hypertensive child would carry on to become a hypertensive adult.[1] Thus, early recognition and intervention while still at the pediatric age group will prevent these future adults from adding on to the burgeoning population of adult hypertensives at risk for devastating stroke, myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, and other cardiovascular events. Over the years, new clinical knowledge, breakthroughs, and scientific evidence have made it difficult for physicians to thresh out crucial medical information necessary for everyday clinical decisions. Hence, clinical guidelines were formulated to assist practitioners in making more consistent and efficient judgments at the bedside and outpatient clinics. Clinical practice guidelines have increasingly become a standard part of clinical practice. These systematically developed recommendations developed into influencing rules of operation at the clinics, hospitals, and even health directives of insurers and government policymakers to standardize practice and improve clinical outcomes. In the Philippines, there is no clinical practice guideline drafted for pediatric HTN. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the European Society of HTN (ESH) guidelines have served as the references and the sole basis for the standard of care. From the time, the guideline updates were published Abstract