Normalized peripheral transit time to monitor hypertension in children

Studies have demonstrated that a notable increase in arterial stiffening can signify the presence of cardiovascular abnormalities, such as hypertension. Presently, the mercury sphygmomanometer continues to be the clinical gold standard to identify such abnormalities, but due to its measuring nature it cannot be used for continuous observation. Pulse transit time (PTT), which has an inverse relationship with blood pressure (BP), is proposed here as a simple and non-invasive technique to monitor hypertension in children. In order to minimize inter-subject PTT differences, all obtained PTT data were normalized to the study population. The results indicated that normalized mean PTT value is able to differentiate hypertensive from normal children in a significant (p < 0.01) manner in both upper and lower limbs. Preliminary findings herein suggest that PTT can be useful tool to monitor for hypertension in children especially during prolonged clinical observations.