NPPB and hematocrit: Although the blood pressure was found to be high in the acute phase of stroke, HT was found only in one-third of the patients in one study.[27] In the study by Nakagawa et al., it was found that although patients with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) had higher MAP levels than patients with ischemic stroke, the serum BNP levels were higher in patients with ICH than in those with ischemic stroke.