Miroslav Šašinka, Tibor Šagát, Katarína Furková
Arterial hypertension in children is a serious clinical problem, particularly for its impact on morbidity and mortality of cardiovascular diseases in adulthood and even old age. The prevalence of hypertension in children recently has been clearly rising in parallel with the rise in prevalence of obesity. Evaluation of blood pressure (BP) is specific to the age, but also to height, weight and gender. It is also important to diagnose prehypertension and white coat hypertension. In younger children secondary arterial hypertension (in systemic diseases) dominates, in older primary (essential) arterial hypertension. The authors analyze in detail the aetiology of secondary hypertension, stress the importance of a standard measurement of blood pressure, the importance of accurate history, careful clinical examination and a targeted laboratory tests selection.