Background: The aetiology of perinatal arterial ischemic stroke remains speculative. It is however widely accepted that the aetiology is multifactorial, involving various maternal, placental, foetal and neonatal risk factors. A resulting thromboembolic process is hypothesized and the placenta identified as the most plausible source. An arteriopathy, as observed in a significant proportion of childhood ischemic stroke, is thought to be rare.
Methods: We report here five cases of perinatal stroke that differ from the vast majority by documented carotid occlusion, and add eleven other similar cases from the literature.
Results: In the majority, an intraluminal thrombus of placental origin is the most probable hypothesis, while in the remaining ones, one can reasonably presume a direct vessel wall injury related to a traumatic delivery, yet generally unproven by imaging.
Conclusion: We hypothesize that most of these cases share similar pathophysiology with the more common perinatal arterial ischemic stroke but differ by a persistent identified thrombus in the carotid artery at the time of first imaging, leading to a more severe and extended ischemic damage responsible for an adverse neurological outcome.
Keywords: Carotid occlusion; Dissection; Neonatal arterial ischemic stroke; Perinatal stroke; Placental thromboembolism.
Copyright © 2016 European Paediatric Neurology Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.