Risk Factors for Perinatal Arterial Stroke: A Study of 60 Mother-Child Pairs

The objective of the present study was to examine demographic, historical, and prothrombotic risk factors in infants with perinatal arterial stroke and their mothers. Risk factors were evaluated in 60 mother-child pairs with perinatal arterial stroke. Prothrombotic factors analyzed included the DNA mutations factor V Leiden, prothrombin 20210, MTHFR C677T and A1298C; serum activity levels for protein C, protein S, and antithrombin III; serum levels of lipoprotein(a); and, in the mothers, antiphospholipid antibodies. Boys predominated, 36:24. There were four twin sets. Sixty percent were term and 22% were post-date. Ten were large for gestational age. Five mothers had abdominal trauma. Nine mothers (15%) had preeclampsia. Emergency caesarean section was performed in 17 cases (28%). Eight placental exams revealed seven with abnormalities. Seizures were the presenting sign in 70%, and 30% presented with early handedness or cerebral palsy. Prothrombotic risk factors were found in 28 of 51 mothers (55%) and 30 of 60 children (50%). Forty-one pairs (68%) had at least one abnormality in mother, child, or both. Long-term sequelae included cerebral palsy (40 of 51; 78%), cognitive impairment (35 of 51; 68%), seizures (23 of 51; 45%), and microcephaly (26 of 51; 51%). Perinatal arterial stroke is the result of multifactorial, synergistic fetal and maternal factors among which the prothrombotic factors, both fetal and maternal, appear significant.