Neurovascular disorders in children: an updated practical guide

Neurovascular disorders are an important cause of brain injury in the paediatric population, leading to substantial mortality and morbidity. These include ischaemic, haemorrhagic strokes, and cerebral venous sinus thromboses. Despite remarkable improvements in our understanding and management of strokes in general, and in the quality of immediate care and rehabilitation, the outcomes in childhood strokes lag far behind adult strokes. This is a multifaceted problem. There remain several challenges including delays in recognition due to vague clinical presentations, a failure to consider strokes in many cases, delays in obtaining imaging and inadequate imaging when performed, as well as limited evidence and availability for hyper acute intervention in children. Stroke in children is also a vastly different entity to adult strokes, with a unique set of risk factors and often with an underlying cause to be found. This review is by no means exhaustive, but instead aims to provide an overview of the epidemiology, sub-classification and aetiology of paediatric neurovascular disorders, mainly ischaemic, haemorrhagic strokes and cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. We also focus on the risk factors for each of these, the clinical presentation, recommended diagnostic protocol, pertinent imaging findings, as well as the current treatment and follow-up practices.