Pediatric stroke in an African country.

BACKGROUND

The pattern of pediatric stroke displays ethnic and geographical variations. There are few reports from black Sub-Saharan Africa, although relevant data are important in prevention, clinical diagnosis, treatment and prognostication.

OBJECTIVE

To describe subtypes, risk factors, localization, age and gender distribution of pediatric stroke in the black Kenyan population.

METHODS

Retrospective cross-sectional study in a single regional referral and teaching hospital.

METHODS

Data were analyzed by SPSS version 13.0 for Windows and presented in tables and bar and pie charts.

METHODS

The study was performed at the Kenyatta National Hospital, a level-6 regional referral health facility with an annual pediatric in-patient turnover of about 40,000 patients. Files of patients aged 1 month to 18 years over a period of 5 years were analyzed for stroke subtypes, localization, risk factors, age and sex distribution. Only those files with complete information were included.

RESULTS

Thirty-two of the 712 stroke patients (4.5%) were pediatric. The male:female ratio was 1.7:1. Ischemic stroke comprised 56.3% (n = 18). Mean age was 7.7 years (range, 1.5-18 years). The most common sites were cortical (51%), lacunar (41%) and brain stem (8%). The most common risk factors were connective tissue disorders (28.1%), heart disease (25%), human immunodeficiency virus (9.4%) and infection (9.4%).

CONCLUSIONS

Pediatric stroke is not uncommon in the Kenyan population. The risk factor profile comprising connective tissue disorders and infection differs from that reported in other populations, inviting large community-based studies.