Blood Pressure and Clinical Outcome in Acute Ischemic Stroke

To the Editor:We read with interest the recent report about the relationship between blood-pressure and clinical outcome in acute ischemic stroke.1 On the basis of an analysis of a single blood pressure value before randomization in the IST trial, the authors found that high and low initial blood pressure values were associated with a worse clinical outcome. However, many of the patients, particularly those with high blood pressure values, were probably treated with antihypertensive agents in the acute phase. A relationship between a blood pressure drop within the first 24 hours after acute stroke and worse outcome in patients with acute …