New study into childhood stroke launched

Despina Eleftheriou (UCL Institute of Child Health) is leading a new study that aims to develop a blood test to help identify children who are at risk of multiple strokes, and will also investigate the role of inflammation or injury to blood vessels in causing stroke. A stroke is a brain attack that occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off. Without a blood supply, brain cells can be damaged or destroyed. Hundreds of children have strokes every year, and childhood stroke is one of the top ten causes of childhood death. Approximately half of the children in the UK who have a stroke each year have an underlying medical condition, such as sickle cell anaemia or a heart problem, that increases their risk of having another stroke. The other half of children who suffer a stroke are apparently healthy, and the stroke may result from problems with blood clotting or infection. Strokes can occur in newborn babies and up to one in five children who have had a stroke will have further strokes.