Hypertension Affects Optimum Post-stroke BP

The optimum poststroke blood pressure(BP) appears to be higher in patients with ahistory of hypertension than those without, asshown in a study conducted at the Universityof the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.

The study team admitted, however, that"the association between BP after strokeonset and outcome has not been fully understood."

The team examined data on 1004 patientswith ischemic stroke and 1097 with hemorrhagicstroke who were admitted to the hospitalon the day of stroke onset.

The analysis showed a "u-shaped" relationshipbetween admission BP levels and the30-day mortality rate in patients with ischemicstroke, with intermediate BP levels associatedwith a lower mortality rate, and both high andlow BP levels associated with a higher mortalityrate. In patients with hemorrhagic stroke,only elevated BP was a predictor of poorprognosis.

The researchers concluded that the associationbetween BP level and early prognosisafter acute stroke depends not only on thetype of stroke, but on the absence or presenceof previous hypertension as well.