Significance of Heritability in Primary and Secondary Pediatric Hypertension

The results suggest that primary and secondary hypertension do not share the same type of genetic profile. Primary hypertension in children and adolescents is likely due to a large number of additive contributions of genes, although a highly correlated environmental component can not be excluded. The continuous liability model is inappropriate for secondary hypertension because the estimate was substantially greater than one. This study supports the model that secondary hypertension in children and adolescents may be related to just a few genes.