Background and Purpose-Stroke is an important cause of death and disability among children. Clinical trials for childhood stroke require a valid and reliable acute clinical stroke scale. We evaluated interrater reliability (IRR) of a pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Methods-The pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale was developed by pediatric and adult stroke experts by modifying each item of the adult National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale for children, retaining all examination items and scoring ranges of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Children 2 to 18 years of age with acute arterial ischemic stroke were enrolled in a prospective cohort study from 15 North American sites from January 2007 to October 2009. Examiners were child neurologists certified in the adult National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale. Each subject was examined daily for 7 days or until discharge. A subset of patients at 3 sites was scored simultaneously and independently by 2 study neurologists. Results-IRR testing was performed in 25 of 113 a median of 3 days (interquartile range, 2 to 4 days) after symptom onset.Patient demographics, total initial pediatric adaptation of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale scores, risk factors, and infarct characteristics in the IRR subset were similar to the non-IRR subset. The 2 raters' total scores were identical in 60% and within 1 point in 84%. IRR was excellent as measured by concordance correlation coefficient of 0.97 (95% CI Key Words: childhood Ⅲ ischemic stroke Ⅲ outcome Ⅲ stroke scale Ⅲ validation I schemic stroke affects 1.2 to 7.9 per 100 000 children aged 1 month to 18 years annually in Europe and North America and ranks among the top 10 causes of death. 1,2 Long-term motor and cognitive deficits interfering with activities of daily life and academic attainment affect 40% to 60% of survivors. 3 There are no proven strategies for acute management or prevention of childhood stroke other than blood transfusion for children with sickle cell anemia. Progress in defining factors that determine outcome and designing clinical trials are hindered by the lack of a validated and reliable clinical stroke scale. Previously published cohort studies of acute clinical presentation or long-term outcome in childhood stroke have not used standardized, validated, and reliable measures of clinical stroke severity at stroke onset. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is a quantitative measure of stroke-related acute neurological deficit, which has proven intra-and interrater reliability (IRR) and predictive validity for outcome among adults. 4 -6 Neurological examination of children requires adjustment according to the maturation of the child's neurological and cognitive function and ability to comprehend instructions. The objective of this study was to evaluate IRR of a pediatric modification of the NIHSS, the Pediatric NIHSS (PedNIHSS), administered by child neurologists in children with ac...

Background and hypothesis The aetiologies of arterial ischaemic stroke in children are diverse and often multi-factorial. A large proportion occurs in children with cardiac disorders. We hypothesized that the clinical and radiographic features of children with arterial ischaemic stroke attributed to cardiac disorders would differ from those with other causes. Methods Using the large population collected in the prospective International Paediatric Stroke Study, we analysed the characteristics, clinical presentations, imaging findings, and early outcomes of children with and without cardiac disorders. Results Aetiological data were available for 667 children with arterial ischaemic stroke (ages 29 days to 19 years). Cardiac disorders were indentified in 204/667 (30·6%), congenital defects in 121/204 (59·3%), acquired in 40/204 (19·6%), and isolated patent foramen ovale in 31/204 (15·2%). Compared to other children with stroke, those with cardiac disorders were younger (median age 3·1 vs. 6·5 years; P < 0·001) and less likely to present with headache (25·6% vs. 44·6%; P < 0·001), but were similar in terms of gender and presentation with focal deficits, seizures, or recent infection. Analysis of imaging data identified significant differences (P = 0·005) in the vascular distribution (anterior vs. posterior circulation or both) between groups. Bilateral strokes and haemorrhagic conversion were more prevalent in the cardiac disorders group. Conclusions Cardiac disorders were identified in almost one-third of children with arterial ischaemic stroke. They had similar clinical presentations to those without cardiac disorders but differed in age and headache prevalence. Children with cardiac disorders more frequently had a ‘cardioembolic stroke pattern’ with a higher prevalence of bilateral strokes in both the anterior and posterior circulations, and a greater tendency to haemorrhagic transformation.

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