Increased Mortality Rate Linked With Post-stroke Low Blood Pressure

Post-stroke, the increased risk of death is found to be associated with low blood pressure and non-cardiovascular conditions like cancer and dementia as per a study at the Boston University School of Medicine, published in the journal Stroke. It is well established that high blood pressure or hypertension is a risk factor for stroke and deaths. The present study now adds even low blood pressure as an equal risk factor.

“Lower average blood pressure, measured in the outpatient setting, was associated with increased risk of death after a stroke event. In addition, this higher risk of death appeared to happen particularly in patients who were smokers or had a diagnosis of cardiac disease, cancer or dementia,” says corresponding author Hugo J. Aparicio, MD, MPH, assistant professor of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and an investigator at the Framingham Heart Study.

The study identified nearly 30,000 Veteran patients with a first ischemic stroke who had outpatient blood pressure measurements within the previous 18 months prior to the stroke.

Stroke and Mortality

The group was further divided by blood pressure categories and was followed over time for the outcomes. At the same time, the anticipated hypothesis was that both very high and very low blood pressure values contribute to higher mortality risk.

It was found that persons with lower blood pressure had the highest mortality, especially among those with at least one comorbidity of smoking, cardiovascular disease, cancer, or dementia.

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“Our study suggests that stroke patients with a history of low to low-normal blood pressures, some 10% of stroke patients, are at high risk of mortality. Ideally, this information can encourage better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of risk factors such as smoking, heart disease, and cancer, so that if a stroke does occur patients have a better chance at recovery and survival,” says, Aparicio.

Source-Medindia