Blood pressure in the initial phase of acute ischaemic stroke: Evolution and its role as an independent prognosis factor at discharge and after 3 months of follow‐up

Background. A prospective observational study was aimed at assessing the role of blood pressure (BP) during the first 24 h from stroke onset on the outcome of acute ischaemic stroke. Methods. Subjects admitted within the first 3 h from stroke onset were included. Stroke severity was evaluated with the Canadian Stroke Scale (CSS). Functional recovery was defined as a modified Rankin Scale score ⩽2. Results. One hundred subjects were included. In a logistic regression model, the independent predictors of poor functional recovery at discharge were: age (OR = 1.12; 95% CI 1.04–1.21; p = 0.0033), non‐lacunar stroke subtype (OR = 4.31; 95% CI 1.07–17.31; p = 0.0395), diabetes mellitus (OR = 8.38; 95% CI 1.67–41.95; p = 0.0097), a CSS score at admission ⩽8 (OR = 28.64; 95% CI 5.59–146.68; p<0.0001), an average systolic BP during the first 6 h ⩾180 mmHg (OR = 13.34; 95% CI 1.34–133.10; p = 0.0272) and a lower diastolic BP average from 6 to 24 h (OR for 5 mmHg increase: 0.57; CI 95% 0.36–0.88; p = 0.0115). Similar...