Viral infection in infantile lenticulostriate stroke after mild head trauma

Background/aim: The development of lenticulostriate stroke following mild head trauma accounts for 3 % of traumatic brain injury in children. Method: we examined the records of 49 children (< 36 months old) diagnosed with infantile stroke following a mild head trauma in the First Hospital of Jilin University between January 2007 and August 2019. Demographic characters, clinical manifestations, laboratory and imaging investigations were gathered and analyzed. Antibodies against EB virus (EBV), herpes simplex virus (HSV-1) and cytomegalovirus (CMV) were detected in the patient sera. Result: A total of 18 patients with lenticulostriate stroke and calcification were included in the Patients Group (16.61±10.57 months), and 14 patients without calcification were included in the control group (13.07±7.66 months). Imaging findings demonstrated the presence of lenticulostriate stroke in all patients. There were no significant differences in the demographic characters or clinical manifestations of stroke between both groups (P>0.05). Similarly, no significant differences were observed in the EBV and HSV-1 antibodies positivity in both groups. In contrast, CMV antibody was significantly more detected in the Patients Group (P <0. 05). Conclusion: Our results suggest that CMV infection may associated with lenticulostriate calcification leading to the development of infantile lenticulostriate stroke after mild head trauma.
Keywords: Key words: Viral infection, infantile lenticulostriate stroke, mild head trauma