The aim of this study was to examine the association between blood pressure (BP) in children and adolescents and cardiovascular and renal disease in adulthood. This was a retrospective study on patients <18 years of age with an elective admission to Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, Iceland, between 1950 and 1967. We recorded baseline variables including BP and invited all patients for a follow-up visit in 2008 for repeat studies. We used chi(2), Fisher's exact test, and logistic regression to examine the association between BP in childhood and outcome variables at follow-up. We identified 126 individuals (54 men) for the study. The median age (range) at childhood admission was 15 (10-17) years and the median BP was 125/80 mmHg. Median age at follow-up was 58 (42-68) years, follow-up time 43 (25-52) years, and median BP 133/75 mmHg. Eleven had died (five men) and 49 had been diagnosed with hypertension (23 men) and 12 with coronary artery disease (ten men). There was a significant correlation between the diagnosis of coronary artery disease at follow-up and childhood systolic BP (odds ratio = 1.052; P = 0.03) as well as systolic BP >/= 95th percentile (P = 0.03). Our results suggest that elevated childhood systolic BP may increase the risk of coronary artery disease in adult life. The sample size is a limiting factor, and the study should be carried out in a larger population.