Pediatric Stroke: A Single-Center Experience

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Neurology
• Vascular Neurology
• Clinical Pediatrics

Background:

• Stroke in children is less common than in adults but is increasingly diagnosed due to advanced imaging and heightened clinical awareness.
• Understanding the diverse clinical presentations and underlying causes of pediatric stroke is crucial for timely diagnosis and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the clinical characteristics, risk factors, treatments, and outcomes of pediatric stroke.
• To differentiate the common etiologies and presenting symptoms across various pediatric stroke types, including arterial ischemic stroke (AIS), hemorrhagic stroke, and sinovenous thrombosis (SVT).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of medical records for 118 pediatric patients diagnosed with stroke between January 2000 and December 2011 (excluding neonatal cases).
• Data collected included demographic information, clinical findings, stroke type, and identified etiologies.

Main Results:

• Arterial ischemic stroke (AIS) was the most frequent type (58.5%), primarily linked to cardiac disease.
• Hemorrhagic stroke (19.5%) was often associated with late hemorrhagic disease of the newborn, while sinovenous thrombosis (SVT) (22%) was frequently linked to otitis media-mastoiditis.
• Hemiplegia was the most common symptom in AIS, whereas headache and strabismus were prevalent in SVT. No association was found between thrombophilia and stroke.

Conclusions:

• Pediatric stroke encompasses diverse subtypes with distinct common etiologies and characteristic symptoms.
• AIS commonly presents with hemiplegia, and SVT with headache and strabismus in the pediatric population.
• Further research may be needed to explore the role of thrombophilia in pediatric stroke.