Abstract

Perioperative cerebrovascular events are exceedingly uncommon in pediatric patients. The etiology of such problems includes emboli from intracardiac thrombi, sickle cell disease, vascular anomalies, vasculitis affecting the cerebral vasculature, and prothrombotic states. We describe a 6-year-old boy who had right-sided hemiparesis on the second postoperative day after an uneventful patch angioplasty for renal artery stenosis. Workup revealed a possible hypercoagulable state due to an anticardiolipin antibody. The pathogenesis of the anticardiolipin antibody syndrome, its clinical manifestations, diagnostic criteria, and potential treatment strategies are reviewed.