Stroke risk highest in babies’ first week of life

Babies in their first week of life are more susceptible to having a stroke than at any other time in their lives, but are also least likely to be diagnosed, according to a world expert in newborn medicine.

The upshot for a child where stroke is not diagnosed is that they could go on to develop cerebral palsy (CP) whereas, with early pick-up and proper rehabilitation, there was the potential to prevent CP, according to Terrie Inder, the Mary Ellen Avery professor of paediatrics in the field of newborn medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Prof Inder, who will address day two of a conference on neonatal brain monitoring and neuroprotection in Cork today organised by Infant, Ireland’s only perinatal research centre, said because babies cannot verbalise, it was difficult to diagnose neonatal stroke.