Introduction: Stroke is a cause of childhood disability. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical profile and risk factors in a serie of patients.

Methods: Children aged between 29 days -18 years were enrolled (1989-2012). Clinical characteristics and risk factors were described by age group. PedNIHSS severity score was estimated and correlated with the presence of risk factors, by ordinal and linear regression models.

Results: From 63 patients (average age 3,52 years) 67% were male. The most common symptoms were motor deficit (78%) and seizures (47%). The main risk factors were arteriopathy (60%) and infection (40%). Prevalence of systemic conditions was higher in children <3 years (p < 0,05). An average PedNIHSS score of 7.4 (0-17) was obtained. There is no significant relationship between the number of risk factors and PedNIHSS score. In a linear regression model, the presence of acute disorders of the head and neck was significantly correlated with PedNIHSS score (p < 0,05).

Conclusions: We confirmed male predominance and motor deficit at debut as previously described. We found at least one risk factor in all patients with complete information. We confirmed arteriopathy as the main risk factor, but we did not found any case of focal transient arteriopathy, may be because of lack of follow up neuroimaging. Searching for all risk factors is important, because the number of them is not predictable by severity score, but is important for recurrence risk. Acute disorders of the head and neck are predictors of higher PedNIHSS score.