OBJECTIVE: To evaluate blood pressure (BP) in children with sickle cell disease (SCD). METHODS: Observational descriptive study of BP in 70 children with SCD. BP values were classified according to the V Brazilian Guidelines in Arterial Hypertension. Patients were divided into groups according to genotype (HbSS, HbSC) and according to age: group I, three to four years and 11 months; group II, five to eight years and 11 months; and group III, nine to 13 years and 11 months. The Student's t test and ANOVA were used for statistical analyses, and the level of significance was set at p<0.05. RESULTS: Mean and standard deviation (SD) of systolic BP (SBP) (mmHg) were 95.9±11.45, and of diastolic BP (DBP), 62.6±7.78. Means according to age group were: group I - SBP 91.2±5.78 and DBP 61.5±7.15; group II - SBP 97.3±10.86 and DBP 64.4±7.89; and group III - SBP 100.0±9.88 and DBP 61.5±4.94. Results showed that 5.7% of the patients had hypertension and 8.6%, pre-hypertension. Mean SBP and DBP of HbSC and HbSS patients did not differ. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies should be conducted to assess BP in patients with SCD and determine possible causes of hypertension in these patients.
blood pressure; hypertension; anemia, sickle cell; child
