There are 2 types of strokes, ischemic and hemorrhagic. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood vessel is blocked. A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when there is bleeding into the brain (also known as an intracerebral hemorrhage) or into spaces surrounding the brain (also known as subarachnoid hemorrhage). A subarachnoid hemorrhage is usually the cause of a hemorrhagic stroke in a newborn.
There are several causes of stroke in children. The most common is congenital heart disease. Other reasons a child can suffer a stroke include:
· Sickle cell anemia
· Intracranial infection
· Brain injury
· Vascular malformations
· Occlusive vascular disease
· Some genetic diseases concerning problems with the coagulation or clotting of blood
In children, particularly those under 4 years of age, seizures will occur at the onset of a stroke. Other symptoms that will accompany the seizures include inability to speak, paralysis on one side of the body, slurred or impaired speech, headache, and fever.
There are certain warning signs a parent can look for that indicate a stroke may happen. If a child complains about a sudden weakness on one side of their body and/or a sudden loss of speech, don't wait, get them to a doctor as quickly as possible. The sooner a stroke is diagnosed, the better the chance of a child's full recovery.
When a child suffers a stroke, it is treated the same as for an adult. The child is hospitalized and monitored for increased cranial pressure and associated affects from the stroke. Preventative measures are taken to address any underlying causes for the stroke so that it hopefully doesn't happen again. If a child has sickle cell anemia, a preventative treatment than can be implemented is blood transfusions on a regular basis to increase blood flow to the brain. Half of the children with Sickle Cell Anemia, who suffer a stroke, will suffer a second one and transfusions are a worthwhile treatment to consider. Unfortunately, this does have the risk of poisoning for the child from too much iron as the result of repeated transfusions. Some other preventative measures taken to guard against strokes in a child are:
