Patterns of Blood Pressure in Infants who Survived from a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Neonates admitted and treated at neonatal intensive care units (NICU) are at increased risk of developing hypertension. We measured blood pressure of infants who survived from the neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) during follow up. We are reporting the patterns of blood pressure of these infants. Short of appropriate BP apparatus, BP is not routinely measured in resource limited settings. Timely identification of high BP could help to avert the occurrence of target organ damage. Objectives: To assess the pattern of blood pressure and associated factors for hypertension in infants who survived from the NICU. Materials and methods: This is a cross sectional study conducted from January 2015 to September 2016 at Tikur Anbessa Hospital High Risk Infant Clinic (HRIC). Three measurements were taken at each visit and mean blood pressure was taken for analysis. Infants with high BP in the first visit were followed for two more visits 4 weeks apart. Systolic or diastolic blood pressure > 95th percentile for gender and age is considered hypertension. Results: Blood pressure was measured for 394 infants from 1 month to 24 months of age. More than half (56.1%) were male. Eleven infants (2.8 %) were hypertensive in three subsequent visits; 3 were females and 8 males. Four were admitted at birth because of prematurity, low birth weight; small for gestational age, hypothermia and sepsis but 7 were term infants with perinatal asphyxia and sepsis. Binary logistic regression didn’t show statistically significant association between high BP and patient characteristics at admission. Conclusion and recommendation: Routine blood pressure monitoring should be the standard practice in the care of high risk infants. Longitudinal studies are recommended to see the pattern and associated risk factors for HBP in survivors of the NICU.