Arterial Presumed Perinatal Ischemic Stroke: A Mini Review and Case Report of Cognitive and Speech-Language Profiles in a 5-Year-Old Girl

Children (Basel). 2023 Dec 28;11(1):33. doi: 10.3390/children11010033.

Abstract

Arterial presumed perinatal ischemic stroke is a type of perinatal stroke that emerges due to late or delayed diagnostics of perinatal or neonatal arterial ischemic stroke. It is usually recognized before one year of life due to hemiparesis. This injury may lead to cognitive, behavioral, or motor symptoms, and life-long neurodevelopmental disabilities. In this case report, we describe a five-year-old girl with a history of arterial presumed perinatal ischemic stroke in the left hemisphere, which adversely affected her cognitive and language outcomes. The girl's cognitive development has been uneven, ranging from below average to average, and she had specific language acquisition deficits in comprehension, vocabulary, morphology, use of complex syntax, and narrative structure. The obtained results point to the specificity of each child whose development is influenced not only by the timing of the brain lesion and the degree of damage, but also by the child's neurobiological capacity. In addition, we provide an updated review of the literature that includes information on epidemiology, risk factors, diagnostics, clinical manifestations, outcomes, and potential therapies. The present article highlights the importance of early intervention and systematic monitoring of children with perinatal stroke with the aim of improving the child's development.

Keywords: arterial presumed perinatal ischemic stroke; cognition; neuroplasticity; speech-language development.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

Grants and funding

This work was partially supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, within the project “Influence of psychophysiological, sociological, and cultural factors on speech and language in the child population”. This project is realized in cooperation with the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Kragujevac, Serbia.