Résumé
PURPOSE: Febrile seizure affects 2 to 5% of children, but 30 to 40% of the children who already had febrile seizure experience another febrile seizure. We researched to define a high risk group of recurrent febrile seizures through investigating several risk factors. METHODS: We evaluated 342 patients who were admitted to our hospital or treated in the emergency room for their first febrile seizure from March, 1995 to August, 2001. We assessed various risk factors, such as age, the type of seizure, body temperature, serum sodium concentration, sex, neurologic abnormalities, and family history of febrile seizure or epilepsy. RESULTS: Age at the first febrile seizure(< or =18 months) and family history of febrile seizure were significant risk factors for recurrence of febrile seizure. The study showed that 21.9% of the children who had none of these risk factors, 36.4% of the children who had one, and 57.1% of the children who had both factors had recurrent febrile seizures. Thus, the recurrence rates clearly increase as the number of these factors increase. CONCLUSION: Two major risk factors for recurrent febrile seizures were identified:early onset(< or =18 months) and family history of febrile seizure. The risk of recurrent febrile seizures increased with the number of these risk factors increased. Consequently, children with both risk factors were considered to belong to a high risk group of recurrent febrile seizures.