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Early neurological deterioration (END), observed in the acute phase of small subcortical infarct treated with intravenous thrombolysis (IVT), is not uncommon in these patients. However, in over half of the END cases, the exact cause is yet incompletely understood, which is so-called unexplained END (unEND). Our aim was to investigate the association of early blood pressure (BP) changes with unEND in patients with small subcortical infarct in the perforator territory of middle cerebral artery treated with IVT. Consecutive patients with acute small subcortical infarct treated with IVT were enrolled in this study. unEND was defined as≧2-point increase of NIHSS from baseline to 24 hours, without straightforward causes. BP excursions and BP variability were calculated and compared between patients with unNED and those without. A total of 168 patients with acute small subcortical infarct were included. Of them, there were 29 patients with unEND and 139 without END. During the first 24 hours following IVT, 66 (39.29%) patients had at least one BP excursion. Logistic regression analyses indicated that BP excursion presence (OR = 3.185, 95% CI: 1.238-8.198), SBP excursion presence (OR = 3.535, 95% CI: 1.366-9.143), and number of SBP excursion (OR = 1.466, 95% CI: 1.090-1.973) were independently associated with unEND. Although SBPSD (P < .001) and SBPCV (P < .001) were higher in patients with unEND than those without END, none of the parameters of BP variability predicted unEND in multivariate analyses. BP excursions above guideline thresholds during the first 24 hours following IVT for small subcortical infarct are common and are independently associated with unEND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally known that acute minor stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA) seem to be benign. However, their occurrence in patients with steno-occlusive arterial disease may result in early neurological deterioration (END). We aimed to elucidate the effect of blood pressure variability (BPV) on the development of END. Consecutive acute minor stroke and TIA patients within 24 hours of onset were prospectively recruited from the Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University between Aug 2015 and Feb 2019. END was defined as an NIHSS score increased ≥1 during the first 72 hours compared with the initial NIHSS score. During this period, the mean, maximum (max), the difference between the maximum and minimum (max-min), the SD, and coefficient of variation of BP (BPCV ) were calculated. Of the 160 total patients enrolled in the study (mean age, 68.01 ± 9.33 years; 50.6% female), 52 (32.5%) patients occurred END during the first 72h after admission. To express the BPV as a categorical variable, we classified the subjects into one of four groups, representing four quartiles of BPV. In the multivariable analyses, the lowest quartiles were considered as reference groups. The results showed that patients who fell in the fourth quartile (SBPmax-min :OR = 3.289, 95% CI 1.147-9.430; SBPSD :OR = 3.313, 95% CI 1.041-10.547; SBPCV :OR = 3.425, 95% CI 1.164-10.077; DBPSD :OR = 3.124, 95% CI 1.065-9.158) had a significantly higher risk of END after adjusting the variables (age, female, diabetes mellitus, atrial fibrillation, and CRP with P values <.1 in univariate analyses). Our study demonstrated that the acute in-hospital BPV was associated with the development of END in acute minor stroke and TIA with steno-occlusive arterial disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]