Advancing Pediatric Stroke Readiness: Engaging Healthcare Systems to Optimize Care Delivery
Stroke is less common in children than in adults, yet equally devastating. Nevertheless, children with symptoms of acute stroke commonly present to community hospitals or adult stroke centers where experience and institutional protocols for pediatric stroke diagnosis and management may be limited. Despite advances in pediatric stroke awareness and the implementation of stroke pathways in many children's hospitals, significant gaps remain in the timely recognition, diagnosis, and management of pediatric stroke. A key contributing factor is the lack of system-level infrastructure to guide pediatric acute stroke care. This special report examines the challenges and barriers to achieving Pediatric Stroke Readiness at a national level in the United States and presents 5 engagement case studies highlighting efforts to establish processes and networks for pediatric stroke management across diverse care settings. The cases emphasize the development and implementation of systems of care in which pediatric stroke centers collaborate with first responders, community hospitals, and adult stroke centers to improve the delivery of acute stroke care for children. The strategies underscore different engagement approaches and identify opportunities for future research and quality improvement. These case studies also illustrate educational materials and clinical pathways that may serve as resources for others pursuing similar initiatives.
Authors
- Maria M. Galardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8006-0254)
- Mubbasheer Ahmed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3345-9814)
- Brian M. Faux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2036-5800)
- Daniel Davila‐Williams
- Kriti Bhayana
- Stuart Fraser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4390-0490)
- Rachel Pearson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9418-8184)
- Lori C. Jordan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7240-0415)
- Allison Capetillo
- Christine Reeves
- David Wampler
- Heather J. Fullerton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4828-1687)
- Kristin P. Guilliams (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5518-3778)
- Christine K. Fox (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6934-3624)
- Carl H. Schultz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7221-7204)
- Robin Novakovic-White
- Sarah Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8821-6636)
- Dan Guzman
- Marcela Torres
- Nipa Sanghani
- Melika Abrahams
- Michael Dowling
- Robin Novakovic (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3220-3323)
- Lauren Fournier
- Jennifer Erklauer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2960-7645)
- Lakshmi Srivaths
- Lisa Pabst
- Stephen Deputy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6169-6836)
- Angela Cornelius
- Stuart Fraser
- Gilberto Torres
- Amanda Humphries
- Dominique Diggs
- Justin Reed
- Natalie Montanez
- Brian Faux
- Jake Purdy
- Robert Lapus
- Rachel Herring
- Earl Pike
- Wilmot Bonnet
- Kevin Schulz
- Daniel Martin
- Fernando Acosta
- Deidra Lee
- Ashley Garza
- Joshua Bobko
- Keely Smith
- Crystal Bassham
- Lauren Jacobs
- Pamela Petersen
Institutions
- Children's Hospital of Orange County (US)
- Cleveland Clinic (US)
- Texas A&M University – San Antonio (US)
- The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Orange County Healthcare Agency (US)
- The Neurological Institute (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (US)
- The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Stroke
- Published
- 2026-07-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1161/strokeaha.126.055126
- Primary Topic
- Blood Coagulation and Thrombosis Mechanisms
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00