News Release

Landmark textbook on strokes in children and young adults updated in second edition

Book Announcement

Loyola Medicine

MAYWOOD, Ill. -- In 1994, a neurology textbook edited by Dr. Jose Biller became the standard reference work for the treatment and prevention of strokes in young people.

Now, Stroke in Children and Young Adults has been extensively revised. In the Second Edition, the 14 original chapters have been rewritten, and three new chapters have been added, Biller said. Biller is chairman of the Department of Neurology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

In the foreword, Dr. Mark Dyken wrote that in reading the book, "one is struck by how much has been added to our knowledge." Dyken is professor emeritus of neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine.

Strokes can occur at any age -- even before birth. According to conservative estimates, about 3,200 strokes occur each year in youths under age 18. And more than 3,000 people under age 45 die of strokes each year. This age group accounts for between 5 percent and 10 percent of all strokes. Survivors can experience lifelong learning disabilities, seizures, movement disorders, language problems, cognitive deficits and paralysis on one side of the body. Between 6 percent and 20 percent of children who have strokes die, and at least half are left with some disability.

"The impact of strokes in this age group is devastating to the child or young adult, their families and society," Biller said.

Stroke in Children and Young Adults offers practical clinical guidance on strokes and related issues. The Second Edition includes new chapters on applied anatomy, pediatric central nervous system vascular malformation and vascular disorders of the spinal cord. It also has tips on how to prevent misdiagnosis, new developments in therapy and rehabilitation and data from the latest American Heart Association guidelines.

"Let us hope that the continued rapid acquirement of knowledge makes it necessary for a third edition long before 14 years," Dyken wrote in the foreword.

Biller has been treating young stroke patients for decades. He is a co-author of the 2008 guidelines for prevention and treatment of strokes in infants and children published in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

The Second Edition is dedicated to the late Dr. William DeMyer, a pediatric neurologist at Indiana University. Biller wrote that his colleague was "known and loved by many as preeminent neuroanatomist, erudite teacher, tireless advisor, compassionate caregiver, gregarious sportsman and consummate family man."

###

Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 570-licensed bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children's Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb campus in Melrose Park includes the 250-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.


Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.