Blood Pressure Control and Clinical Outcomes in Acute Intracerebral Haemorrhage: A Preplanned Pooled Analysis of Individual Participant Data

Abstract

We have carefully read the study by Moullaali et al. on “Blood pressure control and clinical outcomes in acute intracerebral haemorrhage: a preplanned pooled analysis of individual participant data” (2). Stroke is a serious public health problem (1,3,5), and the second leading cause of mortality worldwide (1), next to rabies. At present, 15 million people suffer stroke worldwide each year (1,5), and spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) accounts for approximately 10%–15% of all strokes (5). ICH is one of the complications of hypertension (4). Elevated blood pressure (BP) is closely related to hematoma expansion and poor outcome after acute ICH (3). Hence, early BP treatment may be good after ICH (3). We are very interested in the BP regulation strategies mentioned in their study as there are benefits to achieving early and smooth control of systolic BP potentially to levels as low as 120–130 mmHg in adults who have been admitted to the hospital with mild to moderate acute ICH (2). In addition, meta-analysis by our team draws very similar conclusions; however, our research is still under review.