Background and purpose: There are currently no data on the relationship between admission pulse pressure (PP) level and short term clinical outcome among acute stroke patients in the Chinese population. We studied the association between admission PP and in-hospital death or dependency among acute stroke patients in Inner Mongolia, China.
Methods: A total of 2,178 acute ischemic stroke, 1,604 intracerebral hemorrhage and 156 subarachnoid hemorrhage patients were included in the present study. Blood pressure and other study variables were collected within the first 24-hours of admission. Study outcome (death or dependency) was evaluated by trained neurologists during hospitalization. The associations between admission PP and study outcome were analyzed by using multiple logistic model.
Results: PP at admission was not significantly associated with study outcome in acute ischemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage. On the other hand, PP was significantly and positively associated with odds of study outcome in acute intracerebral hemorrhage. Compared to those with PP < 50 mmHg, multivariate-adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of study outcome was 1.545 (1.111-2.148) among intracerebral hemorrhage patients with PP > or = 70 mmHg (p = 0.01).
Conclusion: Increased PP was significantly and positively associated with poor clinical outcome among patients with acute intracerebral hemorrhage, but not acute ischemic stroke and subarachnoid hemorrhage, in Inner Mongolia, China.