Clinical presentation, etiology, and outcome of stroke in children: A hospital-based study.

AIM: To describe clinical presentations, etiologies, and outcomes of stroke in Jordanian children.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of children diagnosed with ischemic stroke who presented to our clinic from January 2001 to June 2014. Patients with onset of stroke in the neonatal period were excluded.

RESULTS: Twenty-four children (12 boys and 12 girls, with a male to female ratio of 1:1) were included in this study. The follow-up period ranged from 1 month to 9 years. Age at onset of the first stroke ranged from 1 month to 13 years. The most common initial clinical presentation was hemiparesis (58.3%). A known etiology was identified in 58.3% of patients. The most common etiologies were metabolic disorders, such as mitochondrial encephalopathy lactic acidosis and stroke (MELAS) and homocystinuria (25%), cardiac disorders (17%), and coagulopathy, such as a homozygous mutation in the MTHFR gene and a factor V Leiden mutation (17%). Recurrence of both clinical and silent strokes occurred in 46% of patients, residual motor weakness occurred in 58.3%, and residual epilepsy occurred in 29.2%.

CONCLUSION: Metabolic disorders, cardiac disorders, and coagulopathy are the causes of strokes in Jordanian children. Our results emphasized the importance of inherited disorders in Jordan.