ATACH2: Antihypertensive Treatment of Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage
Sponsor: NIH
Investigators: Joseph Burns MD (principal), Jose Romero MD, Thanh Nguyen MD, Viken Babikian MD
Summary
Intracerebral hemorrhage, or "stroke caused by a bleed," is a fatal condition that often leads to disability and death. A common observation in this kind of stroke is that the bleed can grow in size with time. The growth of the bleed, which commonly occurs in the first 3-6 hours, can cause compression of the nearby structures in the brain leading to rapid deterioration of consciousness and death. Reducing blood pressure in the early stages of a hemorrhagic stroke is thought to limit the amount of brain damage that occurs. Less brain damage may reduce the high levels of death and disability commonly found in this form of stroke.
Purpose
Currently, there is insufficient evidence on what blood pressure levels are best for treating patients suffering from an intracerebral hemorrhage. The purpose of this study is to find out if there is a benefit to reducing systolic blood pressure (SBP) in a more intensive way (keeping SBP less than 140 mmHg) compared with standard SBP treatment (keeping SBP less than 180 mmHg). The primary way the study team will measure if intensive SBP treatment is better than standard SBP treatment is by assessing the disability levels of study participants three months after their stroke.