Circadian Variability in Pediatric Arterial Ischemic Stroke.
To assess whether the timing of ischemic stroke onset demonstrates circadian variability in children.
We performed a retrospective cohort study evaluating children with arterial ischemic stroke and known time of stroke onset who were enrolled in a large, multicenter pediatric stroke registry. Clinical and radiographic features were compared according to 4 time epochs-6:00-11:59 (morning), 12:00-17:59 (afternoon), 18:00-23:59 (evening), and 00:00-5:59 (night)-using Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square tests. Pairwise comparisons were conducted when needed.
A total of 478 patients were included, with 54% male and a mean age of 9.9 ± SD 5.7 years. We observed a rise in stroke frequency in the morning that plateaued around 10:00, with a sustained high frequency into the early afternoon; most strokes occurred in the afternoon (n = 185, 38.7%), followed by the morning (n = 156, 32.6%). Arteriopathy risk factors were more prevalent in nighttime strokes (23/36, P = .034). Patients in the <2, 2-5, and 6-11-year-old age groups had a higher proportion of strokes in the afternoon (42%, 38%, and 45%, respectively). There was a trend for better median 6-month pediatric stroke outcome measure scores after evening strokes (0.5, IQR 0-1.5) compared with morning strokes (1, IQR 0.5-2) and afternoon strokes (1, IQR 0.5-3), P = .033, but this was not statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons.
Circadian influence on stroke timing appears to differ between adults and children. These findings could influence stroke systems of care and treatment strategies for pediatric stroke.
We performed a retrospective cohort study evaluating children with arterial ischemic stroke and known time of stroke onset who were enrolled in a large, multicenter pediatric stroke registry. Clinical and radiographic features were compared according to 4 time epochs-6:00-11:59 (morning), 12:00-17:59 (afternoon), 18:00-23:59 (evening), and 00:00-5:59 (night)-using Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square tests. Pairwise comparisons were conducted when needed.
A total of 478 patients were included, with 54% male and a mean age of 9.9 ± SD 5.7 years. We observed a rise in stroke frequency in the morning that plateaued around 10:00, with a sustained high frequency into the early afternoon; most strokes occurred in the afternoon (n = 185, 38.7%), followed by the morning (n = 156, 32.6%). Arteriopathy risk factors were more prevalent in nighttime strokes (23/36, P = .034). Patients in the <2, 2-5, and 6-11-year-old age groups had a higher proportion of strokes in the afternoon (42%, 38%, and 45%, respectively). There was a trend for better median 6-month pediatric stroke outcome measure scores after evening strokes (0.5, IQR 0-1.5) compared with morning strokes (1, IQR 0.5-2) and afternoon strokes (1, IQR 0.5-3), P = .033, but this was not statistically significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons.
Circadian influence on stroke timing appears to differ between adults and children. These findings could influence stroke systems of care and treatment strategies for pediatric stroke.
Authors
Lee Lee, Sreekrishnan Sreekrishnan, Mlynash Mlynash, Balut Balut, Pearson Pearson, Harrar Harrar, Hassanein Hassanein, Surtees Surtees, Mailo Mailo, Dlamini Dlamini
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