Twisted: A Story About Pediatric Stroke | Cincinnati Children's

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This a story about pediatric stroke. We will travel into our blood vessels and meet our red blood cell friends. They will help us understand how twisting or injury to our neck can damage arteries and cause our friends to get stuck. This keeps blood from getting to our brain. This can cause brain injury or in other words, stroke. One of the ways this can happen is a syndrome called Bow Hunter’s. Cincinnati Children’s is one of the most experienced facilities in the nation in the treatment of Bow Hunter’s syndrome and for other causes of arterial dissection that lead to stroke. Clinical and research pioneers at Cincinnati Children’s are committed to changing the outcome for children who have it.
Want to see how the animation was made? Check out our behind the scenes video here: • Behind the Scenes - Tw...
Transcript:
This is a story about Pediatric Stroke.
Let’s take a trip into your blood vessels!
Here are some red blood cells in an artery -
that’s a vessel that carries blood to the body.
Blood moves all around our bodies to
get us the oxygen and nutrients we need.
These three blood cells in particular
are on their way to the brain.
They’re just taking their time to get there.
Suddenly, one of the blood cells notices
something weird happening in the blood vessel:
It’s twisting…
…and tearing!
Some of the blood cells are going out of the tear, pushing against the outside of the
artery and making it tighter
Cells are bumping into each other and everything is sticky, and they can’t make it through the vessel!
Oh no!
I know it seems scary, but let’s work
together to figure out how we can help.
Here’s a very sick boy.
His parents notice his smile looks different,
and he has a tingling feeling in his arm.
It can be very scary for mom and dad
who don’t know what’s wrong, but with the doctor’s help, and help from their
team, we can tell that this boy has had a stroke.
This means that his brain hasn’t
been getting enough blood.
Think of it like a farm. On a farm,
crops need water to grow.
If there’s a kink in the hose and the water
stops flowing the crops will not grow.
But if you fix the hose and get the water flowing,
the crops will start to grow again.
In the same way, there will be
problems if blood can’t get to the brain.
Sometimes, strokes are caused by
a little piece of bone in the spine called a bone spur
which only some people have.
When they turn their head really
far, like someone trying to shoot a bow and arrow, that spur
can twist and narrow the artery.
This is called Bow Hunter’s syndrome.
Doctors can help in a few ways.
One way is to surgically remove the bone spur.
Another way is to restrict the movement
of the neck so that the vessel won’t get twisted.
Another treatment is medicine, which will make the blood cells less sticky,
and help them keep moving.
Let's try medicine to see if we can get
blood flowing to the brain again.
The blood vessel is narrow,
and the red blood cells are stuck, which means they aren’t
getting to the brain.
But if we use medicine, like aspirin, it can make everything slippery so the
cells get unstuck.
Now the blood cells can slip through
the narrowing.
Medicine also helps the red
blood cells stay inside of the vessel, while time allows the hole to get better.
Now the vessel is healed, and the blood
cells can go back to taking their walks.
Being sick is no fun, but with time, patience and your doctor's
help, you'll be feeling better in no time!

Credits:
Created by the Cincinnati Children's Media Lab
Animation: Jeff Cimprich, Cat Musgrove, and Mathew Nelson
Media lab Direction and additional content expertise: Ken Tegtmeyer, MD
Content Expert: Sudhakar Vadivelu, DO
Voiceover: Kavan Vadivelu
2D Illustrations: Katie Green
Original Music and Sound Design: Alexander Taylor
Bird Concept Design: Sagan Lacy