Health News: Severe delays in diagnosis of pediatric stroke

healthydailymail.com But as Dr. MacKay's study showed, many parents either do not consider the possibility that their child is suffering a stroke or are unable to recognize the signs, which can severely delay treatment.

Dr. MacKay's findings revealed that the average time from symptom onset of pediatric stroke to arrival at the emergency room was 1.8 hours, with some arrivals taking up to 4 hours.

And it is not only parents who may overlook the signs and symptoms of pediatric stroke - doctors can too. Studies have found that in the US, it can often take longer than 24 hours to diagnose stroke in children.

A report from ABC News in 2011 provides evidence of this, revealing how it took more than 25 hours for doctors to diagnose a 15-year-old boy from Ohio with stroke.

Because of the delay in diagnosis, the boy had to have a part of his skull removed to ease pressure from the build up of blood in his brain.

In a 2008 interview, Dr. Fullerton said she believes a delay in diagnosis of pediatric stroke has fallen into a gap in clinical care. "It is a rare disorder in general, and so most child neurologists will not be very comfortable in caring for children with stroke," she said, adding:

"Stroke is considered more a disease of adults, but then adult stroke neurologists aren't familiar of the etiologies of stroke in children or how to manage stroke in children, and so they're often uncomfortable with caring for a stroke in a child.

It can be difficult to diagnose the etiology of their strokes. It often takes sophisticated imaging studies and studies that are done by very experienced practitioners. It really often does take a team approach to figure out why a child has had a stroke and figure out what is the best way to prevent more strokes in that child."

While stroke is much rarer in children than adults, it is important that parents, caregivers and health care professionals are aware that children can be affected by the condition and take note of the signs and symptoms that may arise.

Not only is May American Stroke Awareness Month, 2nd-8th May is dedicated to World Pediatric Stroke Awareness Week. Set up by the IAPS and not-for-profit organization Brendon's Smile last year, the campaign aims to raise awareness of pediatric stroke around the globe and educate communities about how the condition can impact children's lives.