Strokes in Children

Stroke is considered a medical problem that affects an older population. Unfortunately, even children can have a stroke. Stroke is much less common in children than adults, but the numbers show that 6 out of every 100,000 children have a stroke, and at least one-third of all stroke cases are newborns.

Statistics also show that strokes are one of the top ten causes of death in children. About 12 percent of all cases of death in children are caused by stroke.

On average, an adult gets to the hospital in the first 12 to 24 hours after the first symptoms of stroke, but it takes 48 up to 72 hours for a child to get to the hospital. This delay can be mainly explained by the parents' misperception that the possibility of a stroke is excluded in a child. They attribute the stroke symptoms to more age related diseases such as chicken pox, croup, or ear infection.

Stroke in adults is often caused by hypertension, atherosclerosis, high cholesterol, heart problems, and obesity, but children seem to be affected by strokes for different reasons. Strokes in children can be triggered by medical conditions such as sickle cell anemia and other blood disorders, congenital or acquired heart diseases, abnormalities of the heart and blood vessels that supply the brain with blood, infections in the skull (meningitis or encephalitis), or injuries and head trauma. Sickle cell disease ( or sickle cell anemia) is a genetic disorder that affects African-American and Hispanic children. The red blood cells become sickle-shaped (shaped like a C) and are less able to carry oxygen to the body's tissues and organs. Also, these cells tend to stick to the blood vessels walls, which leads to an obstruction and eventually stroke.

However, in about 10 percent of infant stroke cases, the causes remain unidentified despite extensive tests.

Even if the risk factors that cause strokes differ between adults and children, parents should not neglect the adult risk factors, such as smoking or exposure to cigarettes smoke, physical inactivity and obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes, that can also increase their children's risk of stroke.

Children also experience different stroke symptoms than adults. Some of the most common infant stroke signs include:
(1) Severe headache (which is sometimes the first sign).
(2) Nausea, vomiting
(3) Warm, flushed, clammy skin.
(4) Slow pulse
(5) Speech difficulties (absent, slurred, or inappropriate speech).
(6) Eye movement difficulties (partial or complete blindness or blurred vision)
(7) Weakness, numbness, paralysis, or loss of coordination of limbs or one side of the body.
(8) Facial droop
(9) Salivary drool
(10) Urinary incontinence
(11) Seizures
(12) Brief loss of consiousness
(13) Unconscious 'snoring' respirations

Statistics show a sad reality that 20 to 35 percent of infant stroke survivors will have another stroke, and that two-thirds of the survivors have cognitive deficits, physical disabilities, or seizures. Children that survive a stroke have to confront serious disabilities such as speech and communication impairments (aphasia and dysphagia), visual problems, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and epilepsy. A prolonged bed rest can also trigger a series of other type of complications such as: fever, mental status changes (loss of emotional control, changes in memory, changes in judgment and problem solving), behavioral changes (improper language and actions), and poor nutrition. However, due to their young age, children seem to recover a lot better than adults after a stroke. The child's brain is still developing and it can repair itself when the child benefits from physical and speech therapy.

Article by Kona Vishnu, MS
Medical Writer,
OmniMedicalSearch.com
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Conditions & Diseases: Brain & Nervous System

Strokes