A Few Facts About Stroke in Infants, Children, Young Adults and Before Birth

Stroke can occur before birth, in infants, children and young adults.
Risk of stroke is highest in the first year of life and peaks during the perinatal period (a few weeks before and after birth).
Perinatal arterial ischemic stroke is the most common form of stroke in children.
Perinatal stroke occurs in 1 in every 2800 live births. This incidence is likely to be an underestimate.

You may also hear terms like fetal stroke, prenatal stroke, and in utero stroke. Your doctor may refer to a stroke that occurs between birth and one month of age as a neonatal stroke.

Sixty percent of infants with a stroke diagnosis have specific symptoms such as recurrent focal seizures in the first three days of life. Their stroke will most likely be identified early.

However, forty percent of infants with early stroke do not have symptoms and the stroke is recognized later with delays in movement, development, learning, or seizures.

The risk of stroke from birth through age 19 is approximately 5 per 100,000 children.

Perinatal, neonatal, infant and childhood stroke are some of the most common causes of hemiplegia, hemiparesis, or hemiplegic cerebral palsy in children. Sixty percent of the children who survive a stroke will have permanent neurological problems.


We’re sad to report that stroke is one of the top 10 causes of death in children between the ages of 1 and 19 years.