What Are the Classifications of Perinatal Stroke?

Discussion Perinatal stroke occurs in about 1:1000 live births and is a “focal vascular injury from the fetal period to 28 days postnatal age.” Perinatal stroke is the most common cause of hemiparetic cerebral palsy and causes other significant morbidity including cognitive deficits, learning disabilities, motor problems, sensory problems including visual and hearing disorders, epilepsy, and behavioral and psychological problems. Family members are also affected because of the potential anxiety and guilt feelings that having a child with a stroke presents, along with the care that may be needed over the child’s lifetime. Risk factors are inconsistent among studies and probably are due to complex interactions between the maternal-fetal intrauterine environment, the mother, the newborn, along with genetic and anatomic factors. For example, the placenta can be a source of emboli to the fetal brain and could be a factor in neonatal arterial ischemic stroke. Hypercoagulable states, central nervous system infection, brain vulnerability at different time periods, and congenital malformations are all considerations for increased risk of perinatal stroke. As noted below, acute neonatal seizures along with other symptoms such as mental status changes (irritability, lethargy), poor feeding or frank signs of increased intracranial pressure can be associated with perinatal stroke but can also be associated with other problems such as meningitis, hypoxic-ischemic encephal...
Source: PediatricEducation.org - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Source Type: news