Blood pressure variability and early neurological outcomes in acute and subacute stroke in Southwestern Uganda.

Background: Greater blood pressure variability has detrimental effects on clinical outcome after a stroke; its effects are controversial and have not been evaluated in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of patients with CT head confirmed ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes admitted to a tertiary hospital within 7 days of onset of unilateral neurological deficits. Blood pressure variability indices, standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) of systolic and diastolic blood pressure between day 0 and day 7, were calculated with a subsequent modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score on day 14 post-stroke.