According to the American Heart Association, strokes affect around 11 in 100,000 children under age 18 each year, and around 1 in 4,000 babies born each year. Stroke is one of the top ten causes of death in children; 20 to 40 percent of children who suffer a stroke die, and 50 to 80 percent of those who do survive with permanent neurological problems. Childhood strokes are classified as ischemic, caused by blood vessel blockage, or hemorrhagic, caused by bleeding in the brain compressing brain tissue
Cardiac Disorders
Congenital, or acquired, heart disease, the most common cause of ischemic stroke in children, the Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Association reports, accounts for around 50 percent of childhood strokes. Heart problems can lead to formation of clots within the heart that can travel to the brain and block blood flow.
Blood Disorders
Children with sickle cell anemia and other coagulation disorders comprise the second largest group of children with strokes, according to the Children's Pediatric and Stroke Association. Sickle cell anemia, the most common cause of strokes in African-American children, causes strokes in 10 percent of children with sickle cell, the American Stroke Association states. Recurrent strokes often occur in children with sickle cell anemia. Other types of coagulation disorders can also lead to strokes: hemophilia, a lack of blood clotting factors; low platelet count; and arterial malformations can cause hemorrhagic stroke.
Infections
Many types of infection can lead to stroke in children including meningitis and encephalitis, brain infections that were the most common factor associated with stroke in hospitalized children in California between 1991 and 2000, the Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Association reports. Varicella, or chicken pox, causes stroke in around 1 in 6,500 to 15,000 children. HIV, brain abscess, head and neck infections, Mycoplasma pneumoniae and parvovirus B19 may also result in stroke.
Perinatal Causes
Decreased blood flow through the placenta can cause stroke before or at birth. Maternal infections before birth such as chorioamnionitis, infection of the fluid that surrounds the fetus, or premature rupture of membranes are associated with perinatal stroke, the American Heart Association warns. Birth trauma and asphyxiation also cause stroke. Perinatal stroke is the most common cause of cerebral palsy in children not born prematurely, according to the Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Association.
Trauma
Trauma, particularly head trauma, damages large arteries and decreases blood flow to the brain, leading to stroke.
References
- American Stroke Association: Pediatric Stroke
- Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Assocation: Conditions Associated with Strokes in Children
- American Heart Association: Stroke in Infants and Children
- Pediatric Stroke.org: Causes and Outcome in Childhood Stroke
- Children's Hemiplegia and Stroke Assocation: Neonatal Stroke
