It is estimated that 10–30% of arterial ischaemic strokes in children are due to disease of the posterior circulation. The features of basilar artery stroke in children aged 1 month to 16 years have been reviewed (Barbara Goeggel Simonetti and colleagues, Dev Med Child Neurol 2012;55:65–70; see also Commentary; ibid: 9–10).

The analysis included 97 children with basilar artery stroke; seven out of 172 with stroke in the Swiss Neuropaediatric Stroke Registry (from its setting up in January 2000 to June 2011) and 90 from a literature search for papers (in English, …