Management and 2-year follow-up of children aged 29 days to 17 years hospitalized for a first stroke in France (2009-2010).

INTRODUCTION:Childhood stroke is a little-known disease in France. The objective of this study was to report the characteristics, management, treatment and outcome of stroke in terms of survival and 2-year recurrence rates. METHOD:The study population included children aged 29 days to 17 years, identified by their first hospitalization for stroke (excluding transient ischemic attack) in 2009 and 2010 and not hospitalized for stroke between 2005 and 2008. Data were derived from the système national d'information inter-régimes de l'assurance maladie (SNIIRAM) [national health insurance information system]. RESULTS:For the 428 children with stroke in 2009 and the 441 children with stroke in 2010, the mean annual hospitalization rate was 3/100,000 children, comprising 0.5/100,000 for cerebral infarction (CI) and 1.5/100,000 for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). The youngest children presented the highest ICH rate, while, to a lesser extent, adolescents presented a higher proportion of CI. A male predominance was observed for ICH. Comorbidities were relatively common among these children prior to hospitalization: 21% had already been granted an affection de longue durée (ALD) [chronic disease] status and 37% had been hospitalized at least once during the previous year. The mean length of the hospital stay was 7.2 days and the hospital mortality was 3.9% (3.4% for ICH, 3.2% for CI). The 1-year mortality rate was 5.7% and the 2-year mortality rate was 6.0% (6% for ICH and 5% for CI). The readmission rate for stroke was 13% during the 1st year and 2% during the 2nd year. At 1 year, 18% of children (26% for CI) had been admitted at least once to a rehabilitation unit. CONCLUSION:This is the first study to report the epidemiology of childhood stroke in France. The validity of this study is supported by the fact that it demonstrated homogeneous descriptive indicators to those obtained by means of various methodologies in other populations. The high mortality, recurrence, and disability rates observed during the year following the initial stroke encourage continuation of the ongoing process of standardizing the management of childhood stroke in France.