[Comment] Blood pressure in acute stroke: which questions remain?

In ENOS, one of the largest randomised trials of blood pressure-lowering in acute stroke now published in The Lancet, Philip Bath and colleagues1 assessed whether blood pressure could be safely lowered with a daily glyceryl nitrate patch for 7 days after acute stroke, and whether antihypertensive drugs should be continued or withdrawn. Blood pressure is increased in about 70% of patients with acute stroke and often falls spontaneously over the next few days.2 The potential causes of this transient rise include disturbed cerebral autoregulation, damage or compression of brain regions that regulate blood pressure, neuroendocrine disturbance, and non-specific mechanisms such as headache, urine retention, infection, and psychological stress.
Source: LANCET - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Comment Source Type: research