[Arterial stroke after birth trauma].

Perinatal arterial stroke is a significant cause of neurological deficit, including mental retardation, delayed motor development, epilepsy, and severe cognitive impairment. Most strokes occur in term neonates, due to thromboembolism from an intracranial or extracranial vessel associated with a risk factor such as asphyxia at birth and heart, hematological or infectious diseases. An association with instrumental delivery has not been clearly demonstrated, although several cases have been described in the literature. The incidence of stroke in the perinatal period is estimated to be 1/4000 term neonates per year. We describe three new cases of stroke in term neonates with instrumental delivery and describe the etiopathogenesis, diagnosis and outcome of this entity.