SAGE Publications, International Journal of Stroke, 1(6), p. 40-41, 2011
DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-4949.2010.00551.x
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The pathogenic link between sleep-disordered breathing and early neurological deterioration in acute ischaemic stroke patients is now a subject of clinical investigations. Vasomotor reactivity and intracranial blood flow steal in response to changing vasodilatory stimuli like carbon dioxide play a pivotal role in clinical deterioration with reversed Robin Hood syndrome. A mechanical ventilatory correction in selected acute stroke patients might have a beneficial effect on sleep-disordered breathing and brain perfusion. This is a novel therapeutic target and the missing link in the pathogenesis of early neurological deterioration and stroke recurrence.