ASSESSMENT OF SOME ATHEROSCLEROSIS RISK FACTORS IN CHILDREN OF PATIENTS WITH YOUNG STROKE

AbstractINTRODUCTION: Cerebral strokes below the age of ۴۵ account for up to ۳% of allstrokes. Given that atherosclerotic thrombotic factors are the most frequent etiology ofcerebrovascular accidents (CVA) second to cardioembolic causes, and that children offamilies with sequels of premature atherosclerosis are considered to be at risk, weassessed atherosclerosis risk factors and antiphospholipid antibody (APL-Ab) levels inchildren of patients with young stroke (YS) and without cardioembolic causes incomparison to controls.METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on ۲۷ children of patients withYS due to non-cardiac causes (case group) and ۲ control groups, one with ۵۲ children ofpatients with stroke after the age of ۵۰, and the other with ۵۵ children without the historyof stroke in their parents. Findings were analyzed with SPSS using ANOVA test.RESULTS: The mean values of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, LDL-C andApoB۱۰۰ in the case group were significantly higher and mean HDL-C and ApoA۱ weresignificantly lower in the case group. The number of APL-Ab-positive cases was larger inthe case group. The other assessed variables were not different between the two controlgroups.CONCLUSIONS: Atherosclerotic thrombotic risk factors were more prevalent in childrenof patients with atherosclerotic thrombotic cerebral YS than in controls. Primordial andprimary prevention of these risk factors should be considered in children of thesefamilies.Key Words: Young stroke, risk factors, children, prevention.