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Overweight and obesity are increased in childhood-onset cerebrovascular disease

Virginia Pearson1, Chris Ruzas, Nancy F Krebs

  • 1School of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver, Aurora, CO 80045, USA. timothy.bernard@ucdenver.edu

Journal of Child Neurology
|June 1, 2012
PubMed

Insights

Overweight and obesity are linked to a higher risk of cerebral sinovenous thrombosis in children. This risk was not found for arterial ischemic stroke in the study population.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Cardiovascular Health
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Cerebrovascular diseases in children are serious conditions.
  • The role of overweight and obesity as risk factors in pediatric cerebrovascular disease requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between overweight/obesity and cerebrovascular disease in children.
  • To compare the prevalence of overweight/obesity in pediatric patients with cerebral sinovenous thrombosis (CSVT) and arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) against control groups.

Main Methods:

  • A cohort of 53 children with non-neonatal-onset CSVT or AIS was analyzed.
  • Prevalence of overweight/obesity was compared with healthy children from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
  • CSVT patients were further compared to matched hospitalized controls.

Main Results:

  • Overweight/obesity prevalence was significantly higher in the CSVT cohort (55%) compared to national controls (32%; P = .04).
  • No significant difference in overweight/obesity prevalence was found in the AIS cohort (36%) versus national controls (32%; P = .81).
  • CSVT patients showed significantly higher overweight/obesity prevalence compared to local Colorado controls (25%; P = .02).

Conclusions:

  • Overweight and obesity are significantly associated with an increased prevalence in pediatric patients diagnosed with CSVT.
  • The findings suggest a potential link between excess weight and CSVT in children.
  • Further validation in larger, multi-institutional studies is recommended to confirm these associations.

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