It is well known that blood pressure (BP) levels persist over time. The present investigation examines tracking of elevated BP from childhood to adulthood and its progression to essential hypertension. In a community study of early natural history of arteriosclerosis and essential hypertension, a longitudinal cohort was constructed from two cross-sectional surveys > 15 years apart: 1505 individuals (56% female subjects, 35% black), aged 5 to 14 years at initial study. Persistence of BP was shown by significant correlations between childhood and adulthood levels (r = 0.36 to 0.50 for systolic BP and r = 0.20 to 0.42 for diastolic BP), varying by race, sex, and age. These correlations remained the same after controlling for body mass index (BMI). Twice the expected number of subjects (40% for systolic BP and 37% for diastolic BP), whose levels were in the highest quintile at childhood, remained there 15 years later. Furthermore, of the childhood characteristics, baseline BP level was most predictive of the follow-up level, followed by change in BMI. Subsequently, even at ages 20 to 31 years, prevalence of clinically diagnosed hypertension was much higher in subjects whose childhood BP was in the top quintile: 3.6 times (18% v 5%) as high in systolic BP and 2.6 times (15% v 5.8%) as high in diastolic BP, compared to subjects in every other quintile. Of the 116 subjects who developed hypertension, 48% and 41% had elevated childhood systolic and diastolic BP, respectively.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

In previous studies (1) some aspects of the mechanisms of renal excretion of radiomercury 8 labeling an organic mercurial diuretic (Mercuhydrin 4) were observed in acute experiments in which renal venous blood and pelvic urine were obtained by means of catheters in a few subjects. The present observations are concerned with the rate of urinary excretion of the radiomercury of this diuretic in a larger number of subjects over a longer period of time. The percentage of injected radiomercury which was excreted in the urine, the time relationships of the diuretic effects and the urinary excretion of the mercury, the biologic decay rates of the isotopes, as well as other physiologic phenomena were determined from these experiments. Because of the extensive use of mercurial diuretics in clinical medicine and the problems of toxicity, the biologic decay rates are of importance. MATERIALS AND METHODSEighty-three hospitalized subjects were studied. The diuretic was administered intravenously and intramuscularly to normal human subjects and to subjects with congestive heart failure. Table I shows the route of ad-

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