CHILDHOOD STROKES

Although stroke is often viewed as occurring primarily in the elderly, it also strikes infants, children, young adults and can even occur before birth.  All with equally devastating results. Strokes are one of the top 10 causes of death in children and teens according to the 2009 report from the American Heart Association Statistics Committee and Stroke Statistics.  Childhood strokes most often happen before age 1, and babies can have them before or right after birth.
Teens and children sometimes have the same stroke symptoms as adults. These include headaches, trouble seeing or speaking, and weakness or numbness on one side of the body. However, they are also more likely to experience signs such as passing out, seizures, breathing problems and trouble swallowing.
When it comes to treatment, every moment counts. In children, strokes are often linked to congenital heart defects, head or neck injury, infections such as chicken pox, blood clotting disorders and sickle cell disease. In one-third of cases, an underlying cause isn't found.
Of children surviving stroke, 50% to 80% will have permanent neurological deficits, most commonly hemiparesis or hemiplegia. Hemiparesis or hemiplegia is a total or partial paralysis on one side of the body, a common form of cerebral palsy in children born at term, and stroke is its leading cause. Other long-term disabilities caused by a stroke occurring around the time of birth include cognitive and sensory impairments, epilepsy, speech or communication disorders, visual disturbances, poor attention, behavioral problems and poor quality of life.
Between 10 percent and 30 percent of children who have one stroke may have another, so they must be watched closely, especially in the first days and weeks afterward.