Landmark Study to Guide Protocol for Stroke Patients

Recent research conducted by the University Of North Carolina School of Medicine provided the first evidence for which course of treatment is best for patients with poor collateral blood vessel formation near the site of stroke. The study, published in the journal Neurology, found that patients should have their blood pressure lowered to normal levels instead of being left high. Doctors previously suspected that blood pressure should be left high in this group of patients to force blood around the blockage and through collateral vessels, reducing the patient’s risk of suffering a second stroke. Using PET scan data from 91 patients with poor collateral blood flow, 40 had an average blood pressure of less than 130/85 during the two years after stroke, 51 had blood pressure above that, and just three of the 40 patients with “normal” blood pressure had a second stroke. However, 10 of the 51 patients with high blood pressure suffered a second stroke. The data from the study showed that lowering blood pressure reduced the risk of a second stroke by 22 percent. To read more about this study, click here.