Childhood stroke

Abstract

Stroke in children is uncommon, but all practitioners will encounter a child who suffered a stroke in utero or after birth. The questions that confront the practitioner are the following: (1) What caused the stroke? (2) Can the stroke occur again and what can be done to prevent a recurrence? (3) What can be done to help the child recover and become a productive member of society? In the past 10 years, multiple excellent reviews have addressed these three questions [1-4], but the field continues to evolve so a review of the most recent advances is needed. This chapter will summarize (a) a case series of children who presented for emergency evaluation of acute neurological attacks; (b) a profile of ischemic stroke risk factors and short-term recurrence data from a multicenter observational study; and (c) reports of outcomes from prospectively followed cohorts.