Abstract P174: Effects of Immediate Blood Pressure Reduction on Death and Major Disability in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients According to Time from Onset to Treatment
Introduction: Although elevated blood pressure (BP) is very common in patients with acute ischemic stroke, the management of hypertension among them remains controversial. Hypothesis: We tested the effects of immediate BP reduction on death and major disability at 14 days or hospital discharge and 3-month follow-up in patients with acute ischemic stroke according to time from stroke onset to initiation of antihypertensive treatment (<12, 12-23, and ≥24 hours). Methods: The China Antihypertensive Trial in Acute Ischemic Stroke (CATIS) randomly assigned patients with ischemic stroke within 48 hours of onset and elevated systolic BP (SBP) to receive antihypertensive treatment (N=2,038) or to discontinue all antihypertensive medications (N=2,033) during hospitalization. Study outcomes were assessed at 14 days or hospital discharge and 3-month post-treatment follow-up. The primary outcome was death and major disability (modified Rankin Scale score≥3), and secondary outcomes included recurrent stroke and vascular events. Results: Mean SBP was reduced 12.7% in the antihypertensive treatment group and 7.2% in the control group within 24 hours after randomization (P<0.001). Mean SBP was 137.3 mmHg in the antihypertensive treatment group and 146.5 in the control group at day 7 after randomization (P<0.001). At 14 days or hospital discharge, the primary and secondary outcomes were not significantly different between treatment and control groups according to time from onset to treatment. At the 3-month follow-up, death or major disability (odds ratio 0.73, 95% CI 0.55-0.97, p=0.03), recurrent stroke (odds ratio 0.24, 95% CI 0.08-0.72, p=0.01), and vascular events (odds ratio 0.41, 95% CI 0.18-0.96, p=0.04) were significantly reduced in the antihypertensive treatment group among participants with time from stroke onset to treatment initiation ≥24 hours only. Conclusion: Among patients with acute ischemic stroke, BP reduction with antihypertensive medications might reduce 3-month death and major disability, recurrent stroke, and vascular events among those who initiated antihypertensive treatment after 24 hours from stroke onset.