Pediatric Stroke: Symptoms, Risk Factors, Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment

Healthbeautyidea.com | Pediatric Stroke: Symptoms, Risk Factors, Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment – Stroke is often identified with the elderly and older persons. Yes, that’s because this disease is usually experienced by older persons.

But actually, anyone can have a stroke, including infants and children.

Based on the cause, stroke consists of two types, namely ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke.

An ischemic stroke is caused by blood clots or blood blockage. While hemorrhagic stroke is caused by blood vessels that leak or rupture.

Blood clots are the most common cause of stroke in children.

Actually, blood clots are normal. Blood clots that occur in the brain can cause strokes.

Pediatric Stroke Symptoms

So, how to detect stroke in the children?

Sometimes it is difficult to detect stroke in children.

The reason is, the initial symptoms of stroke in children are difficult to detect. In fact, stroke in children can also occur suddenly.

However, there are certain symptoms that can indicate the presence of stroke characteristics in our children.

In infants aged 28 days, for example, stroke symptoms can be shown through seizures.

Meanwhile, symptoms of ischemic stroke in children aged 28 days to 18 years include paralysis on one side of the body, drooping face, speech disorders, and headaches

Pediatric Stroke Risk Factors

Often, stroke symptoms are associated with symptoms of other diseases. For this reason, a proper and accurate diagnosis is needed in this case. The way to avoid misdiagnosis is for doctors to identify factors and causes of risk of stroke.

Heart Disease

Heart disease is the most common cause of stroke in children. Heart disease can occur due to hereditary factors from parents and can also occur due to blood clots in the child’s heart.

Sickle Cells (blood disorders)

The next cause of stroke is the presence of sickle cells. This disease is also known as sickle cell anemia. Where there is a genetic disorder the form of red blood cells is abnormal and causes blood vessels to lack a healthy blood supply and oxygen.

There is an infection

Infections that can cause stroke in your child include bacterial meningitis, TB meningitis, and viral encephalitis. In addition, there are also infections in the head and neck, such as mastoiditis or periorbital infection which is also a trigger for stroke.

Vascular

A common cause of hemorrhagic stroke after infancy is arteriovenous malformations (AVMs). This is an abnormal growth between the artery and the vein. In addition to causing hemorrhagic stroke, AVM can also cause thrombotic strokes.

Appears Syndrome and Metabolic Disorders

Disorders such as Down syndrome or other mental retardation disorders affect the appearance of the stroke. In addition, nutritional deficiencies of folic acid or vitamin B12 can also cause hyperhomocysteinemia to cause stroke in children.

Leukemia

Types of cancer can also trigger the emergence of stroke in the baby. Leukemia is a disease caused by a lack of blood cells in a person that is one of the triggers.

Injury to the neck

If your child has ever fallen while on the move and injured his neck, you should be vigilant. Because, injuries to the neck can cause damage to blood vessels that reduce blood flow. This is the trigger for stroke in children.

Pediatric stroke epidemiology

Stroke in infants (perinatal stroke) is generally divided into two, namely ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

The number of events is quite variable. Ischemic stroke occurs in 1 in 3500-10 thousand newborns. The incidence rate of perinatal hemorrhagic stroke is 1 per 6300 babies born alive. The prevalence rate of perinatal hemorrhagic stroke is 6.2 per 100,000 babies born alive.

Childhood stroke is also distinguished into ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. Ischemic stroke affects 1-2 per 100,000 children each year in developed countries.

Hemorrhagic stroke in children can be intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), intravenous hemorrhage (IVH), or subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The incidence rate of hemorrhagic stroke in children is about 1 to 1.7 per 100 thousand children per year.

In 2013, there were 97,792 cases of childhood ischemic stroke and 67,621 childhood hemorrhagic strokes. That’s a 35 percent increase in the overall prevalence of stroke in children since 1990. It is clear that the problem of childhood stroke has become a global health issue.

Pediatric Stroke Diagnosis

Diagnosis can be done by looking at the above signs that occur and medical history. Some tests that can be done to help with diagnosis are as follows:

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT) or Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA)
• Blood test
• Electrocardiogram (ECG) test to examine heart and blood vessels
• Lumbar puncture
• Electroencephalogram or EEG
• Pulse oximetry

Pediatric Stroke Treatment

If the signs of stroke in a child are obvious, contacting the emergency services or going to the hospital and asking for help from a doctor is the right way.

The treatment depends on the cause of the stroke. Treatment includes intravenous fluids to avoid or reverse the dehydration.

Other treatments that are usually done are:

• Oxygen delivery
• Blood transfusion
• Medications to treat blood clots or Blood thinning medicine.
• Surgery for specific cases