Warning of stroke in children: Case awakens subjectivity

(Chinhphu.vn) - Recently, the 108 Military Central Hospital has received many stroke cases in children and adolescents, including a patient as young as 8 years old. This disease is considered to be a disease of adults but is increasingly appearing in young people, with unclear symptoms but sudden progression, especially dangerous.

Patients treated at 108 Military Central Hospital

Warning about the trend of younger people with stroke

According to information from the 108 Military Central Hospital, the case of baby D.K born in 2017 ( Hanoi ) shocked many people. While studying, the baby suddenly collapsed on the table, the left side of his body was weak, this is a manifestation of transient ischemic attack.

Fortunately, teachers and friends discovered the incident in time and informed the family to take the child to the hospital. The CTA scan results showed that the child had a cerebral infarction due to a dissection of the right middle cerebral artery, a rare condition in children.

The patient underwent emergency intervention, balloon angioplasty and stent placement to reopen the blood vessels. Thanks to being brought to the hospital early, the child has made an almost complete recovery, with no neurological sequelae.

Another case is a Chinese patient, born in 2011 (formerly Ha Nam ), 10 days before being admitted to the hospital, the child had a severe headache and fainted at the commune health station. The child was given medicine and his health returned to normal. However, the headache later reappeared.

Initially, the family thought the child just had a common cold, but to be sure, they took him to the hospital. The CTA scan revealed that the child had a small brain hemorrhage due to a ruptured arteriovenous malformation in the right temporal region. After consultation, the doctors at the Neurological Institute performed an intervention to plug the malformation and pseudoaneurysm. Currently, the child has fully recovered.

"I didn't think he had a brain hemorrhage because he was completely healthy before. If I had known it was that serious, I would have taken him to the doctor sooner. I hope parents don't be subjective when they see their children having headaches or showing strange symptoms," Q's mother shared.

According to doctors, stroke intervention in children is much more difficult than in adults. Children's vascular systems are small and vulnerable, and inserting instruments into the vessels requires absolute precision. Currently, the Neurological Institute, 108 Military Central Hospital is treating 4 children aged 8-16 years old. This is a warning bell about the trend of this disease getting younger.

Dr. Nguyen Van Tuyen, Director of the Institute of Neurology and Head of the Stroke Department, said that although stroke in children is still considered rare, in recent years the rate of young patients under 45 years old having strokes has been increasing.

In 2025, the Stroke Department recorded about 10-15% of patients being treated as young people, the main causes being cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage.

In children, the mechanism of infarction is less related to atherosclerosis than in adults, but often comes from arterial dissection (this condition accounts for about 30-50% of very dangerous progression). Arterial dissection can occur when children play, run, jump, collide or turn their neck strongly causing damage to the endothelium or due to vasculitis...

This is the image of the embolization before intervention.

Time determines survival

Stroke at any age is a race against time. Every minute, every second that passes, billions of nerve cells are irreversibly damaged. International recommendations indicate that thrombolytic treatment is effective within the first 3-4.5 hours; mechanical thrombectomy is usually performed within 6 hours.

However, medical experts recommend that families should not wait or rely on the "golden hours" to delay taking their children to the hospital. The longer the delay, the lower the chances of survival and recovery.

What is worrying is that strokes in children are easily missed because the symptoms are not typical and children have difficulty describing their feelings. Signs such as severe headache, weakness in the limbs, blurred vision, difficulty speaking, convulsions, sudden collapse... even if very mild need to be closely monitored. In many cases, parents think their children are tired or dizzy due to studying or a normal cold, leading to missing the golden time for treatment.

According to Dr. Nguyen Van Cuong, Department of Neurovascular Intervention, Institute of Neurology, there is currently no absolute method to prevent stroke in children because the cause is often unclear.

But one thing is certain, if the disease is detected early is the key to minimizing damage and protecting life. Stroke can happen at any age, so the vigilance of family, teachers and community is the decisive factor in the effectiveness of diagnosis and treatment for the patient. Do not let subjectivity take away the opportunity of the child.

HM

Source: https://baochinhphu.vn/canh-bao-dot-quy-nao-o-tre-ca-benh-danh-thuc-su-chu-quan-102251206091528589.htm