Heterogeneity was present for several outcomes and was partly related to the class of antihypertensive drugs used ; angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and diuretics separately , and especially together , reduced vascular events , while beta-receptor antagonists had no discernable effect .
Evidence from r and omized controlled trials supports the use of antihypertensive agents in lowering blood pressure for the prevention of vascular events in patients with previous stroke or transient ischemic attack .
Vascular prevention is associated positively with the magnitude by which blood pressure is reduced
BACKGROUND High blood pressure is a risk factor for stroke recurrence .
We assessed the effectiveness of lowering blood pressure in preventing recurrent vascular events in patients with previous stroke or transient ischemic attack .
Low dose beta blockade in acute stroke ("BEST" trial): an evaluation.
The beta blocker stroke ( " BEST " ) trial was design ed to see if the apparent protective effect of propranolol on cerebral function in patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage applied also to patients suffering from acute stroke . Three hundred and two conscious patients with clinical ly diagnosed hemispheric strokes sustained within the past 48 hours were r and omly assigned to receive atenolol , propranolol , or matching placebo capsules for three weeks . More early deaths occurred among the patients allocated to receive beta blockers , but this was largely explained by differences in the initial characteristics of the patients among the different treatment groups . By contrast , the outcome in a further 60 patients , who had been taking beta blockers at the time of their stroke but were otherwise similar to the patients in the trial , was considerably better , suggesting that prior treatment with beta blockers might be protective . The search for an effective medical treatment for acute stroke must continue . The approach used here , in which neurological outcome was assessed in a modest number of patients with a view to proceeding subsequently to a full scale trial of functional outcome , allows practical benefits of a treatment to be evaluated under realistic conditions and an ineffective treatment to be eliminated without undue cost
Heterogeneity was present for several outcomes and was partly related to the class of antihypertensive drugs used ; angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and diuretics separately , and especially together , reduced vascular events , while beta-receptor antagonists had no discernable effect .
Evidence from r and omized controlled trials supports the use of antihypertensive agents in lowering blood pressure for the prevention of vascular events in patients with previous stroke or transient ischemic attack .
Vascular prevention is associated positively with the magnitude by which blood pressure is reduced
BACKGROUND High blood pressure is a risk factor for stroke recurrence .
We assessed the effectiveness of lowering blood pressure in preventing recurrent vascular events in patients with previous stroke or transient ischemic attack .