Abstract

NALLINO, María Belén; OJEDA, Adriana  and  URIARTE, Ana María. Ischemic stroke in young adults: a challenging diagnosis. Rev. argent. radiol. [online]. 2011, vol.75, n.2, pp.85-89. ISSN 1852-9992.

Introduction. Ischemic stroke in patients between the ages of 15 and 45 is an unexpected event. Its causes involve diverse pathologies which are not frequent in the older population. Purpose. To highlight the important role of neuroimaging in the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutical approach of these patients. Materials and Methods. 30 young adult patients between the ages of 15 and 45 with diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke were retrospectively studied. Results. Of these 30 patients, half of them were men with a mean age of 35 years. Stroke etiology was established in 86% of the cases (n=26), 7% (n=2) due to atherosclerosis, 10% (n=3) due to cardioembolism, 27% (n=8) because of arterial dissection, and 43% (n=13) due to miscellaneous diseases. In 13% (n=4) of the cases the cause was undetermined. Conclusions. Neuroimages play a comprehensive role in the neuroradiological work-up which include: the confirmation of the presence of an acute ischemic lesion, determination of its topography, extension and evaluation of extracranial and intracranial arteries. In this sense, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Multislice Computed Tomography (MSCT) offer high sensitivity and resolution.

Keywords : Ischemic stroke; MRI; MSCT; Young adult.

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