Work

Blood pressure reduction and noncontrast CT markers of intracerebral hemorrhage expansion

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To validate various noncontrast CT (NCCT) predictors of hematoma expansion in a large international cohort of ICH patients and investigate whether intensive blood pressure (BP) treatment reduces ICH growth and improves outcome in patients with these markers. METHODS: We analyzed patients enrolled in the Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage II (ATACH-II) randomized controlled trial. Participants were assigned to intensive (systolic BP <140 mm Hg) vs standard (systolic BP <180 mm Hg) treatment within 4.5 hours from onset. The following NCCT markers were identified: intrahematoma hypodensities, black hole sign, swirl sign, blend sign, heterogeneous hematoma density, and irregular shape. ICH expansion was defined as hematoma growth >33% and unfavorable outcome was defined as modified Rankin Scale score >3 at 90 days. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of ICH expansion and explore the association between NCCT signs and clinical benefit from intensive BP treatment. RESULTS: for interaction >0.10). CONCLUSIONS: NCCT signs reliably identify ICH patients at high risk of hematoma growth. However, we found no evidence that patients with these markers specifically benefit from intensive BP reduction. CLINICALTRIALSGOV IDENTIFIER: NCT01176565.

Source: Neurology

DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000004210