Stroke in young adults: report of three cases and review of literature.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To highlight the occurrence, and review the literature on stroke in young adults. METHODS: This paper reports three cases of young strokes. Brain imaging was done for two cases. The two were haemorrhagic stroke; one from an identified arteriovenous malformation and the other from a suspected vascular malformation or intracranial aneurysm. The third case was a young man with nephrotic syndrome who presented with clinical features of a thrombotic stroke. A review of the literature on stroke in young adults was done via Medline search for relevant publications. RESULTS: The literature review shows that a thorough diagnostic work up is required in young adults with stroke if one is to identify the diverse, but often treatable, causes of stroke in this age group. CONCLUSION: Stroke is a significant, albeit uncommon, cause of mortality and morbidity in young adults.