Study of Acute Febrile Encephalopathy among Children in Tertiary Care Centre

ABSTRACT

Acute febrile encephalopathy (AFE) in children is a medical emergency and could be a manifestation of many systemic and central nervous system pathologies. The clinical features of AFE are nonspecific and etiological spectrum variable depending on the studied population. Methods: A prospective, observational study was carried out including children aged between 1 month and 12 years with AFE admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital in B.J medical college. The primary objective was to assess the clinical presentation and etiology of AFE while the secondary objectives were to correlate the clinical and etiological findings and to determine the risk factors associated with mortality. Results: Out of the ninety children with AFE included in this study, male female ratio was 1.21; most of them were aged between 1 and 5 years and came with a history of < 7 day (82.2%). All of them had altered sensorium, about 2/3rd had seizures and 47.8% having a Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) <8. Etiology remained elusive in about 40% of the cases, and viral infections were the most common among the ones with an identifiable cause. Conclusion: AFE, though a rare diagnosis in children, is associated with significant morbidity and high mortality in a developing country like India.