Carotid Artery Dissection and Ischemic Stroke After Severe Coughing

Vigorous coughing leading to internal carotid artery dissection has been described in the adult literature but has not been reported in the pediatric population. We describe an 8-year-old right-handed girl who had a 1-week history of increased work of breathing and vigorous coughing. She initially presented to her pediatrician's office for her respiratory symptoms which improved with steroid therapy and albuterol treatments. However, she developed evolving left-sided motor weakness over the course of 2 days and presented to our pediatric emergency department where she was found to have an ischemic stroke in the right corona radiata with a right internal carotid artery dissection.