[Early handedness: Warning sign of perinatal stroke. Case series]

Presumed perinatal ischemic stroke is the term used for cases in which an old stroke is diagnosed by the consequences of it and not by the acute symptoms. Many presumed perinatal ischemic strokes have congenital hemiparesis as the first manifestation, which is usually noticed between the fourth and eighth month of life as early hand preference. That is why the clear and persistent handedness developed before one year of age must be assumed as a warning sign of probable motor sequelae. In this paper we review the medical records of 15 cases of presumed perinatal ischemic stroke to assess the age at which the consultation led to the diagnosis, reason for consultation and age at development of handedness