Early identification of stroke type could be key to harnessing the benefits of very early in-ambulance blood pressure lowering treatment in patients with suspected acute stroke, according to new research. The findings were presented at the 10 th European Stroke Organisation Conference in Basel, Switzerland and simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine . Professor Craig Anderson, Director of Global Brain Health at The George Institute for Global Health and lead investigator on the study, said that although more research was needed, the results provided a potential pathway to improving outcomes in patients with the most deadly type of stroke.

“Our study shows clear benefits from administering early blood pressure lowering treatment to patients with intracerebral hemorrhage in the ambulance, although overall there was no difference in outcome from this early intervention for all patients with suspected stroke. “In fact, in patients with a final diagnosis of ischemic stroke, it actually worsened their outcome, so the ability to make a reliable diagnosis at this early stage is key to harnessing the benefits of very early blood pressure treatment.” The Intensive ambulance-delivered blood pressure reduction in hyper-acute stroke trial (INTERACT4) was a multicenter, randomized, open-label, blinded-outcome study conducted across dozens of ambulance services in China.

2404 ambulance-assessed patients with suspected acute stroke causing a motor deficit within.