Further seizures following febrile seizure: assessment of risk factors

Retrospective evaluation of records pertaining to 316 children admitted to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for febrile seizures showed a recurrence rat of 24 per cent. Age at onset of first febrile seizure, a positive family history and atypical initial seizzure were identified as risk factors for subsequent seizures. Other factors, namely abnormal pregnancy, gestational age, birthweight, neonatal problems and neurological abnormality, did not affect the chances of recurrence

Routine investigations in first febrile seizures

Retrospective evaluation of records pertaining to 338 children presenting with a first episode of febrile seizure revealed a high performance rate of routine haemoglobin levels, total white cell and differential count, blood glucose, serum electrolyte and urea levels, lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid examination and blood cultures. Lumbar puncture emerged as the most useful investigation in detecting eight children with meningitis, three of whom were over the age of two years. Transient elevation in blood glucose levels hyponatraemia and low serum bicarbonate levels were noted in some children but their significance is not known. Routine haemoglobin estimation detected sixteen children with unsuspected anaemia, but the remaining investigations were largely unhelpful