PURPOSE: We aimed with study to assess the current clinical practice about the management of high blood pressure in patients in the acute phase of ischemic stroke. We also comment some topics of ischemic stroke treatment. METHODS: A case report of a patient admitted 8 hours after onset of ischemic stroke and with blood pressure of 186x110 mmHg was presented to 120 surgeons and clinician. They were asked to decide the best therapeutic option: to increase, decrease or maintenance blood pressure. RESULTS: Thirty-eight physicians (31,7%) considered decreasing blood pressure the best therapeutics, 82 (68,3%) considered maintenance and none decided to increase it (p < 0.05). There was no difference between the two specialties conduct. The physicians, with more than 10 years of graduation, had a tendency to decrease the blood pressure (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: The maintenance of blood pressure may present a sufficient blood support to compensate brain flow. A high percentage of the physicians (31,7%) do not know about the current concepts of therapeutics considering hypertension in acute ischemic stroke. The development on special units to treat these patients ("stroke units") may eventually decrease the morbimortality rates of ischemic stroke.
ischemic stroke; arterial hypertension; treatment
