THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF ADMISSION BLOOD-PRESSURE IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE STROKE

Background and Purpose: Patients with acute stroke are often found to have high blood pressures at hospital admission. Previous studies have shown variable results regarding the prognostic value of high blood p ressure in acute stroke. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of admission blood pressure in a population-based sam ple of patients with acute stroke. Methods: Eighty-five patients with intracerebral hemorrhage and 831 with ischemic disease were included i n the study. The relations between admission blood pressure and 30-day mortality were studied by logistic regression analyses. Results: High blood pressure in patients with impaired consciousness on hospital ad mission was significantly related to 30-day mortality in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (P=.037) and in patients with ischemic disea se (P<.0001). In patients without impaired consciousness, high blood p ressure at time of admission was not related to increased mortality at 30 days. Conclusions: High admission blood pressure in alert stroke p atients was not related to increased mortality. Stroke patients with i mpaired consciousness showed higher mortality rates with increasing bl ood pressure. However, this does not provide a basis for recommending antihypertensive therapy for such patients.