Paris G, et al. - In this retrospective chart review with 23 pediatric patients with primary hypertension (pHTN) and 29 patients with secondary hypertension from chronic kidney disease (CKD-HTN), researchers compared cardiovascular changes on echocardiogram between the two patient populations. Both groups of patients had no differences in age, gender, weight, height, body mass index, and blood pressure. In both group, there was a high prevalence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (CKD-HTN 25 vs pHTN 26%). Compared with patients with pHTN, those with CKD-HTN were found to have a more pronounced reduced mitral valve inflow Doppler E/A ratio (a marker of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in echocardiogram). In patients with CKD-HTN, worsening of diastolic function was noted with declining glomerular filtration rate. A larger aortic root dimension was detected among patients with CKD-HTN vs patients with pHTN. Overall, a similar prevalence of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction was observed among patients with pHTN and CKD-HTN, though diastolic dysfunction may be more severe and aortic root dimensions larger in patients with CKD-HTN.