Background and purpose: Blood pressure (BP) lowering is often conducted as part of general acute management in patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage. However, the relationship between BP after antihypertensive therapy and clinical outcomes is not fully known.
Methods: Hyperacute (<3 hours from onset) intracerebral hemorrhage patients with initial systolic BP (SBP) >180 mm Hg were included. All patients received intravenous antihypertensive treatment, based on predefined protocol to lower and maintain SBP between 120 and 160 mm Hg. BPs were measured every 15 minutes during the initial 2 hours and every 60 minutes in the next 22 hours (a total of 30 measurements). The mean achieved SBP was defined as the mean of 30 SBPs, and associations between the mean achieved SBP and neurological deterioration (≥2 points' decrease in Glasgow Coma Score or ≥4 points' increase in National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score), hematoma expansion (>33% increase), and unfavorable outcome (modified Rankin Scale score 4-6 at 3 months) were assessed with multivariate logistic regression analyses.
Results: Of the 211 patients (81 women, median age 65 [interquartile range, 58-74] years, and median initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score 13 [8-17]) enrolled, 17 (8%) showed neurological deterioration, 36 (17%) showed hematoma expansion, and 87 (41%) had an unfavorable outcome. On multivariate regression analyses, mean achieved SBP was independently associated with neurological deterioration (odds ratio, 4.45; 95% confidence interval, 2.03-9.74 per 10 mm Hg increment), hematoma expansion (1.86; 1.09-3.16), and unfavorable outcome (2.03; 1.24-3.33) after adjusting for known predictive factors.
Conclusions: High achieved SBP after standardized antihypertensive therapy in hyperacute intracerebral hemorrhage was independently associated with poor clinical outcomes. Aggressive antihypertensive treatment may ameliorate clinical outcomes.
Keywords: acute intracerebral hemorrhage; antihypertensive therapy; outcome.