Pediatric Strokes

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Pediatric Stroke

A pediatric stroke is a life threatening event in which part of the brain is deprived of oxygen. Strokes can occur in children of all ages. It can even occur in the fetus. (Pathak 2000 p.1) Children are much less likely to have a stroke than older adults. (Behrman, Kliegman, Jenson 2000) They are at higher risk for a stroke if they have congenital heart disease, sickle cell anemia, or a wide variety of other conditions and possible traumas. Although children suffering a stroke will have similar signs as an adult, it takes the family longer to realize what is going on. Adult symptoms of a stroke are sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body, sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding, trouble seeing in one or both eyes, trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or coordination, severe headache with no known causes. When a pediatric stoke is treated as soon as possible, the child has a significantly greater chance of avoiding permanent medical affects, such as cerebral palsy or paralysis on one side of the body.
Dr. Mayank Pathak states that “there are two major categories of strokes. These are ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic or bleeding strokes”(2000 p.2). The most common type is the ischemic stroke, which is caused by a prolonged lack of oxygen-rich blood to the brain. Dr. Pathak has concluded that ischemic strokes are usually associated with disorders that promote the clotting of blood or cause inflammation of the arteries, which in turn promotes clotting within them” (2000 p.3). Dr. Pathak also states that the “second
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type of stroke is a hemorrhagic. It occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks open or develops a hole in its wall through which blood begins to leak directly into the brain tissue or into the clear liquid which surround the brain and fills its central cavities” (2000 p. 3). Symptoms of an is...