Clinical categorisation and etiology of seizures in children admitted at a tertiary care centre in North Karnataka

ABSTRACT

Background: Seizure is a common problem evaluated in pediatric emergency departments. Seizure disorders are among the most frequent neurologic problems that occur in childhood. Around 4 to 10% of children experience at least one episode of seizure in the first 16 years of their life. Objectives: To study clinical and etiological profile of children presenting with seizures. Material and Methods: A total of 126 consecutive children aged 1 month to 18 years presenting with seizures defined as per international league against epilepsy classification, participated in this study. A detailed history was taken, and clinical examination was done, along with the investigation for the aetiology of seizures with routine and specific tests, computerized tomography (CT) scan and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) as and when needed. Results: In our present study, we recorded the highest incidence of seizures in the age group of 1year to 5 years. The incidence of seizures in our study was more in males, accounting for 73 cases (57.4%) while females were 53 cases (42.06%). Generalized seizures were the commonest, among them GTCS accounting for 88 cases (69.84). The identified major etiologic factors were febrile convulsions followed by CNS infections. Conclusion: The incidence of convulsions is highest in the age group of 1 month to 5 years and in males. The commonest type of seizure is generalized tonic-clonic (40.6%).The most common cause of convulsion is febrile seizures. Milestones were achieved normally in majority of cases.