Stroke although rare in children, is an important cause of morbidity in the paediatric age group. Over a period of 8 years, 43 children (17 boys and 26 girls) in the age groups of 1–16 years (mean 8.02 yrs) presented with stroke which constituted 10% of all strokes in the young and 0.7% of all paediatric admissions. The chief clinical features were hemiplegia (86%), convulsions (27%), fever (23%). dysphasia (23%), headache (11%) and altered level of consciousness (11%). Routine laboratory tests were non‐contributory. Cranial computerized tomography (CCT) on 21 patients was abnormal in 95% and was useful in revealing the extent of infarction. Infarction was confined to middle cerebral artery territory, often involving basal ganglionic structures and was associated with focal or diffuse atrophy. Angiograms were abnormal in 78% of the patients (18/23) and were complimentary to the CCT. Etiological factors identified were: Moya‐moya disease 6, arteritis 5, fibromuscular dysplasia 2, scorpion sting 2, and venous sinus thrombosis and small vessel occlusion one each. Though 23% of the patients had fever at onset, no obvious evidence of systemic or CNS infection was noticed. Stroke in children continues to pose a diagnostic challenge.

Heterotopic ossi®cation (HO) is an important complication of spinal cord and brain injuries but is rarely reported among patients with non-traumatic myelopathies. In a prospective study on medical problems seven (6.04%) among the 114 subjects with non-traumatic myelopathies had heterotopic ossi®cation. All of them had involvement of hip joints. The co-morbid conditions were: urinary tract infection, seven; spasticity, three; pressure sores, ®ve; and deep venous thrombosis, one. The initial diagnosis was often other than heterotopic ossi®cation. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and serum alkaline phosphatase levels were elevated in all subjects. Following rest and non-steroidal anti-in¯ammatory drugs, the range of motion improved in two patients. Heterotopic ossi®cation can occur in patients with non-traumatic myelopathies and has risk factors and clinical features similar to patients with traumatic spinal cord injury. A high index of suspicion about this complication is necessary for early diagnosis and prompt intervention.

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Objectives:The objective of this study was to assess the clinical characteristics, patterns, and factors associated with headache in patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT).Methods:In this prospective cohort study, we recruited conscious CVT patients who were able to give reliable history after consent. Institutional ethics approval was obtained. The diagnosis of CVT was based on the clinical and imaging parameters. Data regarding headache characteristic, severity (visual analog scale [VAS]), imaging findings and outcome was recorded.Results:Forty-seven patients (19 males and 28 females) with mean age 29.7 ± 8.7 years were recruited. The mean duration of headache was 12.6 ± 26.8 days, and VAS was 79.38 ± 13.41. Headache onset was acute in 51.1%, subacute in 42.6%, thunderclap in 4.3%, and chronic in 2.1%; location was holocranial in 36.2%, frontal in 27.7% patients; description was throbbing in 44.7% and aching in 25.5% patients. Superior sagittal sinus and transverse sinus were involved in 63.8% cases each. The prothrombotic factors were anemia in 55.3%, puerperal in 38.3%, hyperhomocysteinemia in 29.8%, and polycythemia in 19.1%.Conclusion:Holocranial and bifrontal headache of increasing severity may be a marker of CVT. This may be useful in clinical judgment in identifying conscious patients with CVT.

Dural venous sinus thrombosis is a rare and potentially devastating disease. Several predisposing factors exist, including oral contraceptive therapy and colitis. First-line therapy consists of systemic anticoagulation. If first-line therapies fail, more aggressive endovascular therapies may be performed. We report our initial experience with the Solitaire FR device for treatment of refractory symptomatic dural venous sinus thrombosis.