Ischaemic Stroke after Minor Head Injury in an Infant Presenting with Seizures and Hemiparesis: A Case Report

Minor head trauma, though usually benign, can rarely precipitate cerebral infarction through vascular mechanisms such as vasospasm. This case report describes a 16-month-old girl child who presented with left-sided hemiparesis and left upper motor neuron facial nerve palsy, resulting from an acute non-haemorrhagic infarct in the right corona radiata and gangliocapsular region following a trivial trauma. Imaging studies confirmed the infarct, and the child was managed with supportive care and rehabilitation. Remarkably, the patient’s motor function and facial nerve impairment showed significant improvement over the follow-up period. The occurrence of multiple seizures following trivial head trauma in a very young child, together with the radiological evidence of acute gangliocapsular infarction without major vascular abnormalities represents a rare clinical presentation. This report adds to the very limited literature on post-traumatic ischaemic stroke especially in infants and emphasises that persistent focal neurological deficit after seemingly insignificant head injury even in the absence of overt haemorrhage warrants urgent evaluation for cerebral infarction. Timely diagnosis facilitates optimisation of neurological outcomes.