Diurnal Variation in Hypertensive Stroke Patients

Inclusion criteria

• aged 35 to 85 years
• hypertensive patients who had an ischemic stroke

Exclusion criteria

• patients aged below 35 years or above 86 years;
• patients who had a hemorrhagic stroke;
• patients whose systolic BP (SBP) was over 220 mmHg or whose diastolic BP (DBP) was above 120 mmHg during an acute phase, or whose SBP was over 180 mmHg or whose DBP was over 110 mmHg one week after their hospital visit;
• patients with secondary hypertension related to renovascular, endocrinologic, or pregnant conditions
• patients who went to bed in the middle of the day or very late at night; (6) patients who were using intravenous antico-agulants or thrombolytics;

(7) patients with a severe stroke (NIH stroke scale > 20); (8) patients who could not give their consent to investigators; (9) patients with severely impaired liver function (AST or ALT ≥ 100); (10) patients with severely impaired renal function (serum creatinine ≥ 2.0 mg/dL); (11) patients with cancer; (12) patients who were pregnant or lactating; (13) patients with other grave diseases such as hypertensive encephalopathy, aortic dissection, acute myocardial infarction, or severe congestive heart failure; and (14) patients who were allergic to the test or control drugs