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Aimee and Matt Dean鈥檚 daughter Mackenzie suffered a stroke affecting the right side of her brain in August 2014. Aimee recalls noticing that Mackenzie鈥檚 left side looked 鈥榙roopy鈥�, that her speech was slurred and her left arm had gone limp.

Mackenzie鈥檚 quick-acting parents called an ambulance and she was rushed to the Royal Children鈥檚 黑料吃瓜群网, where tests confirmed that she had suffered from a stroke, although the cause was not identified.聽Aimee said, 鈥淎t the time I felt like an overcautious parent, but we instinctively knew that things just weren鈥檛 right with Mackenzie.鈥�

Mackenzie spent around a month in hospital learning how to crawl, talk and walk again. She is now five years old and has made a full recovery, but not all stroke victims are as fortunate.

Approximately 300 babies and children are diagnosed with a stroke in Australia each year. More than half of the children that survive have long-term disabilities that they carry for their lifetime at great cost to themselves, their families and the healthcare system 鈥� which is why new clinical guidelines to be rolled out across the country are so important.

Developed by doctors from the and the, and endorsed by and the , the clinical guidelines will speed up diagnosis when time is critical, to minimise brain injury and improve recovery.

The causes of stroke are different in children and therefore adult care pathways need to be modified for children. There is good community awareness of stroke and there are systems in place to rapidly identify and treat stroke in adults. In contrast, children often wait more than a day for stroke diagnosis and as a consequence may miss the window for life-changing interventions to minimise brain injury and improve recovery.

Some key recommendations include:

• Recognising presenting symptoms that require investigation for stroke;
• The importance of urgent MRI using child-specific imaging protocols for an accurate stroke diagnosis;
• Elements of service necessary for hospitals to qualify as a Primary Paediatric Stroke Centre;
• How to acutely manage symptoms and identify those children eligible for treatment or requiring surgical interventions.

The guideline also includes a quick reference guide for physicians.

Associate Professor Mark Mackay聽鈥� paediatric neurologist, director of the Royal Children鈥檚 Stroke Program and researcher with the Murdoch Children鈥檚 Research Institute聽鈥� chaired the Australian Childhood Stroke Advisory Committee (ACSAC), which included specialists representing each of Australia鈥檚 tertiary paediatric hospitals. The ACSAC members volunteered their time and expertise to ensure that these important guidelines are of the highest international quality and can be implemented across the county.

鈥淲e believe that implementing a standardised approach to diagnosis and management will ensure children are not being left behind in the advances in stroke care which have transformed outcomes for adults,鈥� said Dr Tanya Medley from the Murdoch Children鈥檚 Research Institute, who coordinated the development of the guidelines.

The full guidelines will be published in the .

Image caption: Thanks to her parents鈥� quick thinking, Mackenzie Dean made a full recovery from her stroke. Image 漏Murdoch Children鈥檚 Research Institute/Georgie Wilson.