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Cerebral Autoregulation and Acute Ischemic Stroke
American Journal of Hypertension, 08/21/2012
Jordan JD et al. – Physiological data obtained in patients with acute ischemic stroke provide no clear evidence that there are alterations in the intrinsic autoregulatory capacity of cerebral blood vessels, except perhaps in infarcted tissue. While it is likely safe to modestly reduce blood pressure by 10–15 mm Hg in most patients with acute ischemic stroke, to date, there are no controlled trial data to indicate that reducing blood pressure is beneficial. There may be subgroups, such as those with persistent large vessel occlusion, large infarcts with edema causing increased intracranial pressure or local mass effect, or chronic hypertension, in which blood pressure reduction may lead to impaired cerebral perfusion in noninfarcted tissue.