Vascular Disease

Abstract

Vascular disease involving the nervous system in children is relatively rare, but often devastating when it occurs. The fundamental principles, clinical features, and laboratory findings are similar to those in adults, although there are a number of important differences. The etiological factors that are the most common in adults, arteriosclerosis and hypertension, rarely are the cause of cerebrovascular disease in children. In the pediatric age group, underlying medical disorders are more likely to be present. The pathophysiology of intracranial hemorrhage in premature infants has no counterpart in older individuals. Prognosis is also somewhat different for children, with plasticity and other developmental phenomena allowing for degrees of improvement that would be unusual in adults.