Neonatal stroke: description of patients and investigation into pathogenesis.

We report 15 patients with neonatal stroke reviewed retrospectively. Twelve patients had left middle cerebral artery involvement--the same ratio observed in 36 previously reported patients with strokes. We studied 20 normal neonates prospectively to determine whether a difference in flow velocity could be detected between the left and right middle cerebral arteries; pulsed Doppler ultrasound, which compared both velocities, demonstrated no significant difference.