Pediatric ischemic stroke – an unlikely diagnosis: a report of three cases

Abstract

Pediatric ischemic stroke is a rare and devastating disease. A patient presenting with acute neurological deficit should raise suspicion of a possible stroke. However, stroke “mimics” account for a majority of suspected stroke cases in childhood. We present three cases of pediatric acute is-chemic stroke, two of which are arterial, and one caused by thrombosis of venous sinuses. In the first case, we present a 16-year old male patient was admitted to our hospital due to a rare Artery of Percheron occlusion. The second case represents a 17-year old female patient with thrombosis of multiple cerebral venous sinuses, venous infarctions and secondary hemorrhages. As the third case, we present 6-year old male patient with a herpes simplex infec-tion and a vertebrobasilar stroke. All three patients had experienced an altered mental status and other nonspecific symptoms. Due to its rarity, diverse clinical presenta-tion, and lack of randomized control trials regarding treatment, ischemic stroke poses a great challenge to pediatricians.