title: Blood pressure differences between patients with lacunar and nonlacunar infarcts.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Elevated blood pressure is frequently seen in acute stroke, and patients with lacunar and nonlacunar infarcts may have different underlying mechanisms for increase in blood pressure. The impact of hypertension as a risk factor may also vary. The aims of the present study were to investigate blood pressure in patients presenting with lacunar syndromes but with different anatomical subtypes of stroke, to explore the impact of subtype on blood pressure, and to identify stroke-related factors associated with hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive patients presenting with an acute lacunar syndrome were enrolled. Patients were classified into a lacunar or nonlacunar group based on radiological verified infarcts. Blood pressure was measured. Between-group differences were analyzed by χ2-test, t-test, and Mann-Whitney U test, as appropriate. We performed linear regression to analyze the association between blood pressure and lacunar infarct, and multiple linear regression to adjust for other covariates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred thirteen patients were included. Seventy five percent had lacunar and 25% nonlacunar infarcts. There was no significant difference in clinical severity between the two groups. In the linear regression model, we found a significant association between blood pressure and lacunar infarct. No other factor was significantly associated with blood pressure in the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lacunar infarcts may be independently associated with higher blood pressure compared to nonlacunar infarcts with the same clinical severity. Blood pressure differences between different subtypes of stroke may not be related to clinical severity but to the underlying cause of stroke.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical Division, Akershus University Hospital Lørenskog, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Altmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical Division, Akershus University Hospital Lørenskog, Norway.
authors.forename: Bente
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thommessen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical Division, Akershus University Hospital Lørenskog, Norway ; Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Ole Morten
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Rønning
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medical Division, Akershus University Hospital Lørenskog, Norway.
authors.forename: Antje S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Reichenbach
authors.affiliation: Specialist Health Section, The Norwegian Knowledge Centre for the Health Services Oslo, Norway ; Department of Geriatric Medicine, Oslo University Hospital Oslo, Norway.
authors.forename: Brynjar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Fure
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology; D059409:Stroke, Lacunar / Q000503:physiopathology*
keywords: Blood pressure; hypertension; lacunar infarct; lacunar stroke; risk factors