Symptoms:

Most babies with high blood pressure will not have symptoms. Instead, symptoms may be related to the condition causing the high blood pressure. These symptoms may include:

• Bluish skin
• Failure to grow and gain weight
• Frequent urinary tract infections
• Pale skin (pallor)
• Rapid breathing

Symptoms may appear if the baby has very high blood pressure. These symptoms include:

• Irritability
• Seizures
• Trouble breathing
• Vomiting

Signs and tests:

Usually, the only sign of high blood pressure is the blood pressure measurement itself.

Signs of very high blood pressure include:

• Heart failure
• Kidney failure
• Rapid pulse

Blood pressure in infants is measured with an automatic device.

If coarctation of the aorta is the cause, there may be decreased pulses in the legs. A click may be heard if a bicuspid aortic valve occurs with the coarctation.

Other tests in infants with high blood pressure will try to find the cause of the problem. Such tests may include:

• A special type of x-ray that uses a dye to look at blood vessels (angiography)
• Laboratory tests, including blood and urine tests
• X-rays of the chest or abdomen
• Ultrasounds, including an ultrasound of the working heart (echocardiogram) and of the kidneys
• Using magnets to create images of the heart and great vessels (MRI)