Intracranial Pediatric Vascular Abnormalities: an Imaging Approach

Neurovascular disease is less common in children than in adults. Although it corresponds to a small proportion of pediatric pathologies, it represents a clinical challenge because the signs and symptoms are nonspecific, and when the patient presents with stroke or hemorrhage, it is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Intracranial pediatric vascular pathologies can be classified into several types. In this article, we propose a didactic classification based on the presence or absence of shunting and a subclassification of nonshunting arterial diseases according to vessel morphology. From this radiologic perspective, a differential group of pathologies can be included to characterize the specific findings of each disease. In addition to identifying the etiology, gaining insights into the natural evolution of the disease is crucial for the better care of this specific group of patients, which, in some cases, will be evaluated recurrently throughout their lifetimes.

Learning Objective: To describe the main imaging aspects and categorize the pediatric intracranial vascular pathologies.