Childhood stroke : neuropsychological functioning and outcome in twenty-six cases

Twenty-six cases of stroke in childhood are compared with 26 children without brain damage matched by age and sex. Variables included in the comparisons were intellectual, academic and neuropsychological scores from a standardized test battery. Data on behavioural functioning are also reported. Children who had strokes performed more poorly than the children without strokes on the intellectual, academic and neuropsychological tests. Behavioural problems were not commonly reported in either group. Within the group of children with strokes, outcome ranged from death to full recovery. The majority of the children had motor problems and one-fifth had visual field defects. Post-stroke sequelae included mild speech difficulties and epilepsy. Almost half of the children attended a regular class at school and the other half required a teacher's aid or special class placement. Boys appeared to have a poorer outcome than girls.