Thank you. She's gotten several high readings, but a couple "normal" readings when done on an automatic machine. We were told that sometimes in young babies, automatic machines are MORE accurate? Is this correct.
She's had BP taken in her leg twice and it has been the same as her arm level, is this common in her age, when laying down? Her femural pulses are good and strong.
Dear MSHanson,
The most common cause of high blood pressure in infants is kidney disease. Since your daughter has congenital heart disease, it would be important to ensure that she doesn’t also have an associated coarctation, or obstruction, of the aorta, the main artery that takes blood from the left side of the heart out to the head, neck, and rest of the body. This should have been evaluated by an echocardiogram when the rest of the heart was seen. That said, sometimes they can be progressive over time, and so an updated study may be indicated.
Also, I know normally blood pressure should be 10-20% higher in the leg than arm, however her pressure is the same in her leg & arm, could this be a sign of of CoArc (given her high bp)?