Children with Acute Neurological Emergency

Children with acute neurological emergencies frequently present to the emergency room with various combinations of headache, fever, nausea, vomiting, physical signs of trauma, altered mental status, coma, or focal neurological symptoms. Neuroimaging is often needed in children with acute neurological emergencies due to the difficulties of gathering an adequate and comprehensive patient history or a detailed and reliable neurological examination. The radiologist should be able to answer if the child needs neuroimaging emergently and answer which imaging modality is appropriate for the child. Different neuroimaging modalities may be chosen based on the institutional availability and clinical status of the patient. The goal of this chapter is to discuss the neuroimaging findings of common acute pediatric neurological emergencies including stroke, hemorrhage, infections, and less frequently encountered disorders.