Early treatment of hypertension in acute ischemic and intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke: progress achieved, challenges, and perspectives.

Hypertension is the leading risk factor for ischemic and intracerebral hemorrhagic subtypes of stroke. Additionally, high blood pressure (BP) in the acute cerebrovascular event is associated with poor outcome, and a high percentage of stroke survivors have inadequate control of hypertension. The present is a systematic review of prospective, randomized, and controlled trials carried out on safety and efficacy of antihypertensive treatment of both subtypes of acute stroke. Six trials involving 7512 patients were included, which revealed controversies on the speed and the goals of treatment. These controversies could be due at least in part, from the fact that some studies analyzed the results of antihypertensive treatment in ischemic and intracerebral hemorrhagic subtypes of acute stroke together, and from a different prevalence of past-stroke in the randomized groups. Further research is necessary to establish whether standard antihypertensive treatment provides greater benefit than simple observation in patients with ischemic acute stroke and Stage 2 hypertension of JNC 7, albeit they were not candidates for acute reperfusion. In that case, the target reduction in BP could be 10% to 15% within 24 hours. The recently published INTERACT 2 has provided evidence that patients with hemorrhagic stroke may receive intensive antihypertensive treatment safely with the goal of reducing systolic BP to levels no lower than 130 mm Hg. It is important to take into account that marked BP lowering in acute stroke increases the risk of poor outcome by worsening cerebral ischemia from deterioration of cerebral blood flow autoregulation.