title: Neonatal arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis are more commonly diagnosed in boys.
abstract: The risk factors for arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis in neonates are not well understood. We looked at gender, birthweight, and gestational age in neonates with arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis to see if there were trends suggesting that these were risk factors. We identified neonates with a gestational age at birth > or = 36 weeks and a diagnosis of arterial ischemic stroke or cerebral sinovenous thrombosis made by computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging during the neonatal period from a consecutive cohort study of children with arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis in Ontario. Data on gender, birthweight, and gestational age were obtained by health record review. Sixty-six children with neonatal arterial ischemic stroke were identified. Forty-one (62.1%; 95% CI 49.3-73.8%) were male. Thirty-two children with neonatal cerebral sinovenous thrombosis were identified. Twenty-five (78.1%; 95% CI 60.0-90.7%) were male. One male child was identified with both arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis. There was a trend toward higher than average birthweights among neonates with arterial ischemic stroke and a trend toward older gestational age in female neonates with arterial ischemic stroke. Our data suggest that neonatal arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis are more commonly diagnosed in boys. The slightly larger size of male neonates may be contributory in arterial ischemic stroke. It is not known whether boys are at higher risk of developing arterial ischemic stroke and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis or are simply more likely to present with symptoms resulting in diagnosis. These issues need further study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Division of Pediatric Neurology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Riley Hospital for Children, Room 1757, 702 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. mgolomb@iupui.edu
authors.forename: Meredith R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Golomb
authors.forename: Paul T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Dick
authors.forename: Daune L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: MacGregor
authors.forename: Rosalind
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Curtis
authors.forename: Marianne
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sofronas
authors.forename: Gabrielle A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: deVeber
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007232:Infant, Newborn, Diseases; D020767:Intracranial Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology*