Stroke in young adults: report of three cases and review of literature.
OBJECTIVE
To highlight the occurrence, and review the literature on stroke in young adults.


METHODS
This paper reports three cases of young strokes. Brain imaging was done for two cases. The two were haemorrhagic stroke; one from an identified arteriovenous malformation and the other from a suspected vascular malformation or intracranial aneurysm. The third case was a young man with nephrotic syndrome who presented with clinical features of a thrombotic stroke. A review of the literature on stroke in young adults was done via Medline search for relevant publications.


RESULTS
The literature review shows that a thorough diagnostic work up is required in young adults with stroke if one is to identify the diverse, but often treatable, causes of stroke in this age group.


CONCLUSIONS
Stroke is a significant, albeit uncommon, cause of mortality and morbidity in young adults.
Ojini
F I
FI
Department of Medicine, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba, Lagos, Nigeria.
Wahab
K W
KW
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000150:complications; D002538:Intracranial Arteriovenous Malformations / Q000150:complications; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D009404:Nephrotic Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology*