Relation between blood pressure, left ventricular mass and pulsed Doppler parameters in healthy school children.

We analyzed the relations between blood pressure in sitting and supine positions, left ventricular mass (LVM) and Doppler aortic, pulmonary and mitral flow velocity measurements in 163 healthy school children. Systolic blood pressure in a supine position correlated significantly with aortic acceleration (ATc) and ejection time (ETc), corrected by the square of R-R interval, pulmonary AT and peak flow velocities. Moreover, the systolic blood pressure in a sitting position correlated with pulmonary AT and LVM. LVM correlated with pulmonary ATc, the ratio of AT to ET and average acceleration, and aortic ETc and peak flow velocity. These data suggest the following: (1) the posture influences the relation between blood pressure and flow velocity, (2) pulmonary hemodynamics are influenced by systemic blood pressure in healthy children and (3) the development of LVM may be dependent not only on blood pressure but also on cardiac work in childhood.