In a study recently published in Journal of the American Society of Hypertension, Divya Moodalbail, MD, Pediatric Nephrologist, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, noted presence of ambulatory hypertension in a cohort of children with sickle-cell disease.

Sickle-cell disease (SCD) is a condition wherein abnormally high levels of hemoglobin cause red-blood-cell dysfunction and early cell death. The dead cells can build up and cause poor flow for the remaining cells. Hypertension, or high blood pressure, would therefore be a concern for patients with SCD. Hypertension increases the risk of future cardiovascular and renal disease.

In Dr. Moodalbail’s study, 56 children with SCD underwent 24-hour ambulatory blood-pressure monitoring. Of the 56 children monitored, 17 (30%) met the criteria for hypertension. Twenty-eight additional participants (50%) showed signs of pre-hypertension or “lack of normal nocturnal dipping status,” which is when blood pressure decreases during the night in people with good cardiovascular health.

This study is important both because it confirms the presence of hypertension or pre-hypertension in this cohort and because it confirms that these early cardiovascular and renal disease indicators can be identified with ambulatory blood- pressure monitoring.

The study, “Ambulatory Hypertension in a Pediatric Cohort of Sickle Cell Disease,” can be found in the July 2018 issue of Journal of the American Society of Hypertension.

Also recently, Dr. Moodalbail received the Nemours House Staff Teaching Award for her active role in teaching in addition to her patient care and research responsibilities.

Congratulations to Dr. Moodalbail!