Maternal hypertension during pregnancy and high blood pressure in children. Preliminary communication.

A group of 29 women with previous pre-eclampsia/hypertension in pregnancy and 37 of their children were investigated. At follow-up 7-12 years later, all mothers had mild to moderate hypertension. The children had a significantly higher blood pressure than age and sex-matched controls. Intracellular Na+ in erythrocytes from the children was normal but potassium was significantly higher compared to normotensive controls. The history of maternal essential hypertension and previous pre-eclampsia/hypertension in pregnancy seems to indicate an increased risk for high blood pressure in children, evident before puberty.