Whether raised blood pressure in patients with acute ischaemic stroke should be lowered or not is an unresolved issue in acute stroke management. Data from observational studies show that high blood pressure after stroke is associated with poor outcome.1 Especially in the setting of intravenous thrombolysis, high blood pressure increases the risk of treatment-related intracerebral haemorrhage; thus, patients with very high and treatment-resistant blood pressure are often excluded from treatment, even though current recommendations on blood pressure management in stroke thrombolysis are not based on evidence from randomised trials.
Original Article: [Comment] Blood pressure lowering in acute ischaemic stroke thrombolysis