Neonatal hypertension. Incidence and risk factors.

To determine the incidence and risk factors for neonatal hypertension we studied the entire population of 3179 infants admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit over a 6-year period. We report a 0.81% (26/3179) incidence of hypertension in this population. In 13 patients (50%) the hypertension was renal in origin. In four patients (15.4%), the etiology of hypertension could not be determined. Significant risk factors for neonatal hypertension included: bronchopulmonary dysplasia (5.9% in affected infants v 0.5% in unaffected infants, P less than .001); patent ductus arteriosus (3.07% in affected v 0.5% in unaffected infants, P less than .001); intraventricular hemorrhage (2.89% in affected infants v 0.56% in unaffected infants, P less than .001); and umbilical arterial catheterization (8.8% v 0.2% in infants with and without catheterization, respectively, P less than .001).