ETIOLOGY AND CLINICAL PATTERNS OF STROKE AND HEMIPLEGIA IN A SAMPLE OF IRAQI CHILDREN

Zahoor Abdul Mohsin Mohamed*, Ruaa H. Ali and Zahraa A. Mohammed

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Hemiplegia & stroke are not as common in children as in adults. However, diagnosing the cause of stroke will help in providing preventive & curative treatment. Methods: This retrospective study was carried out on 51 cases of hemiplegia admitted during a period of three years (1st January 2015 - 1st January 2018) admitted to Children Welfare Teaching Hospital / Medical City Complex / Baghdad. The age range was 9 months to 14 years. The data were obtained from patients' record history & examination as age, sex, clinical features & investigations. Results: Males constituted 54.9% while females constituted 45.1%. The main etiology of stroke was intracranial infections causing stroke in 31(60.78%) patients & the majority of them (61.29%) in this group were below 5 years, unknown etiology in 5 patients (9.8%), after necessary available investigations, 21 cases (68%) were right sided hemiplegia, 10 (32%) cases were left sided hemiplegia.

Keywords: Stroke; hemiplegia; intracranial infection; brain tumor.