Risk Factors of Recurrent Febrile Convulsion / 대한소아신경학회지

PURPOSE: Febrile convulsion (FC) is the most common type of seizure disorder during childhood. The most frequent sequale after the first FC is the recurrence of another FC. A number of risk factors associated with the recurrence have been identified. We evaluated the factors associated with the recurrence of FC. METHOD: The recurrence rates of FC by the predictive factors of recurrence were retrospectively evaluated in a cohort of 214 Korean children who were admitted to the Pediatric Depatment of the Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine, from January 1996 to December 1997. RESULT: The overall recurrence rate of FC was 56.1% and the cumulative rates of the recurrent cases by intervals between the initial onset and recurrence were 52.5% by 6 months, 82.5% by 12 months, and 89.2% by 24 months. When the onset of the first FC occurred less than 12 months of age, the recurrence rate (66.1%) was significantly higher than that of the other age groups of the onset (p<0.05). There were no differences in the recurrence rate by the other predictive factors-durations of the initial FC, seizure type of the initial FC, the recurrence during the first 24 hours after the initial FC, and the family histories of FC or epilepsy. CONCLUSION: We can conclude that the recurrence of FC statistically correlated with the age at onset, especially less than 12 months old. And we recommend that it may be necessary to prophylactically treat recurrence of FC if the first FC occurred at less than 12 months of age.

A Study on the Serum Nickel Concentration During Delivery / 예방의학회지

To evaluate the possible functional role of serum during the process of parturition, 15 serum samples were collected and analyzed for the nickel concentrations in each 3 groups(Group 1 for the period during parturition, Group 2 for the period from delivery of fetus to delivery of placenta, and Group 3 for the period after delivery of placenta) of normal, uncomplicated full term vaginal delivery and one control group composed of healthy unmarried women in 3rd decades of age. Data revealed that average serum nickel concentration of Group 2(26.6 microgram/l) and Group 1(22.2 microgram/l) were significantly higher than that of Control group(13.7 microgram/l), but Group 3's(13.8 microgram/l) was almost same as Control group's. There were significant negative correlation between age and serum nickel concentration in group 2, and a tendency of higher nickel concentration in women who have no previous experiences of pregnancy than who have previous experiences of pregnancy, although it was not significant. These result could be indicative of close causal relationship between serum nickel concentration and the entire process of parturition.