Blood pressure changes in acute haemorrhagic stroke.

The relationship between hypertension and cerebrovascular disease is well established. As blood pressure is a dynamic and continually distributed variable, 24 h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring may be valuable as a risk stratifying tool in determining the "hypertensive load" as assessed by the presence of dipping or non-dipping status of an individual. Indeed, the association between reduced nocturnal blood pressure dipping and increased target organ damage is well established. Raised blood pressures are often seen in those presenting with strokes, although the precise mechanisms are uncertain. The relationship between intracerebral haemorrhage, which accounts for up to 15% of strokes in Caucasians, and blood pressure patterns is not well known. Understanding these inherent diurnal rhythms of blood pressure variation could help us unravel their significance and impact on cerebrovascular disease.