Intensive blood pressure reduction with intravenous thrombolysis therapy for acute ischaemic stroke (ENCHANTED): an international, randomised, open-label, blinded-endpoint, phase 3 trial

Publication date: Available online 7 February 2019Source: The LancetAuthor(s): Craig S Anderson, Yining Huang, Richard I Lindley, Xiaoying Chen, Hisatomi Arima, Guofang Chen, Qiang Li, Laurent Billot, Candice Delcourt, Philip M Bath, Joseph P Broderick, Andrew M Demchuk, Geoffrey A Donnan, Alice C Durham, Pablo M Lavados, Tsong-Hai Lee, Christopher Levi, Sheila O Martins, Veronica V Olavarria, Jeyaraj D PandianSummaryBackgroundSystolic blood pressure of more than 185 mm Hg is a contraindication to thrombolytic treatment with intravenous alteplase in patients with acute ischaemic stroke, but the target systolic blood pressure for optimal outcome is uncertain. We assessed intensive blood pressure lowering compared with guideline-recommended blood pressure lowering in patients treated with alteplase for acute ischaemic stroke.MethodsWe did an international, partial-factorial, open-label, blinded-endpoint trial of thrombolysis-eligible patients (age ≥18 years) with acute ischaemic stroke and systolic blood pressure 150 mm Hg or more, who were screened at 110 sites in 15 countries. Eligible patients were randomly assigned (1:1, by means of a central, web-based program) within 6 h of stroke onset to receive intensive (target systolic blood pressure 130–140 mm Hg within 1 h) or guideline (target systolic blood pressure <180 mm Hg) blood pressure lowering treatment over 72 h. The primary outcome was functional status at 90 days measured by shift in modified Rankin scale score...
Source: The Lancet - Category: General Medicine Source Type: research