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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The impact of birth weight on pulse pressure during adolescence

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Background The objective was to study the influence of birth weight on office and ambulatory pulse pressure. Methods and results Three hundred healthy children (176 girls), aged 10–18 years, born at term after a normotensive pregnancy were included. The subjects were divided according to birth weight: 2.000–2.500 kg, 2.501–3.000 kg, 3.001–3.500 kg and >3.500 kg. For each subject, office and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were performed according to the protocol designed. There were significant differences among groups in 24-h ambulatory systolic blood pressure, and pulse pressure (PP). No differences were observed in terms of sex, current age, weight and height. Using a multiple linear regression analysis, sex, but not birth weight was the only independent factor related to office PP after controlling for current age, weight and height. Twenty-four hour pulse pressure was significantly related not only to current weight but also inversely to birth weight after controlling for sex, current age, and height. Conclusions The results disclose a relationship between birth weight and ambulatory pulse pressure while seeking to advance knowledge about the possible associations between birth weight and cardiovascular risk.