Stroke is a brain attack , children too have a brain , so they can unfortunately get a stroke. Stroke signs are often missed in children , largely due to limited awareness .
We all agree that stroke is a brain issue , but majority believe that stroke only targets the elderly !
Is it only the elderly with a brain ?
Symptoms Of Stroke In Children
- Extreme Sleepiness
- Tendency to use only one side of the body
- Trouble talking
- Difficult in understanding what child is being told
- Trouble Seeing
- Sudden confusion
- Sudden difficult in walking
- Convulsions, usually on one side of the body
- Sudden loss of consciousness ( come )
Approach To Stroke
Addressing the underlying cause is the way to go. No two strokes are the same , but common things occur commonly.
Stroke Due To Blood Clots
Some times , a blood clot blocks the blood vessels supplying the brain. This disruption in blood flow to the brain leads to stroke.
Technology now allow us to track devices into the brain without opening the skull , we remove the offending blood clots restoring blood flow to the brain. This is called stroke thrombectomy , and i offer it.
A 3 years old child , parents noted that she suddenly could not climb her bed , had trouble talking , actually could not move the entire half of the body ( left side). Everything here feels like stroke , head scan next , and surely the entire white area ( blue circle ) is brain damage ( stroke).
Fortunately , the parents consented to stroke thrombectomy , i do not know weither the innocent 3 year old counter consented , anyway they will sort that issue at family level.
Stroke thrombectomy , through a tiny hole in a groin blood vessel , devices were taken into the brain to remove the clot.
After a minute or so , the clot retrieving device was taken out of the brain , thankfully with the entire clot capture.
For those struggling to appreciate the clot , it is the orange arrow on the photo below.
A look at blood vessels inside the brain , the skull , hair and eyes and brain itself are digitally subtracted so that we see the tiny brain vessels without anything obscuring , brain blood vessels appear blood.
Before treatment , a vessel inside the brain is blocked ( orange arrow) , after removing the clot ,we now see open blood vessels
Stroke Due To Brain Bleeding
The blood vessels in the brain can leak or rapture causing bleeding into the brain. This type of stroke is called hemorrhagic stroke
Hemorrhagic , because there is hemorrhage, hemorrhage and bleeding are synonymous.
Same rule , find bleeding vessel and repair it , as usual, we do it without opening the skull.
A 6 year old girl with sudden headache , vomiting and blurring of vision , a typical stroke picture.
Stroke is a brain issue , so a brain scan was done , a brain bleed (white area inside blue circle ) was evident.
So we had to take her up for detailed brain blood vessel imaging , the best in the world being digital subtraction angiography (one where the skull , hair and eyes and brain itself are digitally subtracted so that we see the tiny brain vessels without anything obscuring)
A tiny swelling ( aneurysm) on brain vessel had ruptured causing bleeding into the brain. Source of the bleed ( blue arrow)
The head scan below shows a glue cast inside the brain.
Bleeding vessel sealed , stroke treated , child cured.
Stroke Due To Sickle Cell Disease
We all have blood , and blood has different cells , each with a role to play.
Red blood cells , actually give human blood its red appearance, I think if they were called “Blue Blood Cells “ , our blood would appear blue !
The normal red blood cells are round or spherical or whatever your shapes teacher says
Sickle cell disease is a hereditary condition that alters the shape of red blood cells , making them moon or sickle shaped. Actually , a sickle is a garden tool.
So sickle cell disease patients have normal round red blood cells , mixed with abnormally shaped sickle red blood cells.
If you conceptualize blood vessels as pipes , for they are , everything begins to make perfect sense.
One just has to remember that the size of the blood vessel keeps changing along its course , some segments big , others small.
The normal round red blood cells flow through the pipe well , while the abnormal sickle shaped ones block or clog the body pipes (blood vessels). This perfectly explains most sickle cell disease symptoms
When the moon (sickle ) shaped cells block tiny brain blood vessels , blood flow to the brain reduces or stops ( depending on the degree of blockage ) , resulting into the much dreaded stroke !
Strategies To Prevent Sickle Cell Disease Related Stroke
With optimal management, stroke in sicklers can be avoided.
Now , there is technology to remove the moon (sickle) cells from the body, and replace them with normal shaped ones.
The joint research center in Uganda has this service, and all hands are on deck to start a world class bone marrow transplant service , certainly they still stand tall in HIV care and research , for more visit https://jcrc.org.ug/
Sickle cell disease has no cure , THAT IS WHY TESTING YOUR PARTNER’S SICKLE CELL STATUS IS IMPORTANT , bold and underlined , the choice is yours.
Child Rehabilitation After Stroke
Children usually have a long life ahead of them , so the life long burden of stroke is greater for children than adults.
If the life expectancy is say 120 years , getting a stroke at 10 years means you will have to live with the effects of stroke for the next 110 years.
Therefore all child stroke survivors ought to be provided with fine rehabilitation , so that they optimally live.
At www.drhassankabiito.com , rehabilitation after stroke is something we are seriously interested in , visit our stroke rehabilitation blog any day , any time.
In essence , children and indeed all human beings have a brain , and can get stroke , timely identifying and treating stroke is all we can offer stroke victims , survivors are or at least should be eternally grateful , anyway it is worth it.
Children too can get stroke , by the way every adult or elderly person is still someone’s child!
