Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Haemorrhage Trial 3 (INTERACT3)

Cardiovascular disease, including stroke, is a leading killer-disease, threatening the health and wellbeing of millions of Chinese people. China has a particular high share of the global burden of stroke because of the large ‘high-risk’ population. Acute spontaneous non-traumatic intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), or bleeding from a ruptured blood vessel within the brain, is the most serious and difficult-to-treat type of stroke. How best to manage various physiological abnormalities, such as elevated blood pressure and glucose (‘sugar’) in the blood, of patients with ICH is a hot topic at home and abroad.

 

Co-sponsored and implemented by West China Hospital and The George Institute China, INTERACT3 is a clinical research project to tackle the increasing challenge imposed by ICH, the most serious type of acute stroke due to bleeding in the brain.  It was initiated to determine the effects of a ‘care bundle’, or package of treatment involving systems of care to ensure rapid use of intensive blood pressure control, management of elevated blood glucose levels and fever, and correction of anticoagulation-induced clotting abnormality in the blood, as compared to routine care. The study uses a novel, stepped wedge, cluster randomised design and has been rolled out as a quality improvement strategy across hospitals in China and overseas.