Dr. Nivedita V. Pande and Dr. Sandhya Khadse
Introduction-Febrile seizures are one of the most common disorders of childhood with a prevalenceof 2% to 5% of all children. Simple febrile seizures are defined as generalized seizuresthat occur between 6 to 60 months of age with a temperature of 38 degrees or higher which are not due to the result of central nervous system infection or any metabolic imbalance and which are brief, lasting for less than 15 minutes and occur once within 24 hour period in the absence of history of prior a febrile seizures. The cause of simple febrile convulsions remains largely unknown, however many genetic and environmental factors may play an important role in their occurrence.Febrile seizures occur more frequently in boys than in girls and are strongly age dependent. Maternal complications during pregnancy have adverse fetal outcome and may be associated with increased risk of febrile seizures,like maternal smoking.
However in some studies it has been shown that birth order,mode of delivery, perinatal asphyxia are not related with increased risk of febrile convulsions.Similarly the risk of febrile seizure is associated with many other risk factors like family history,iron deficiency anemia. Children with simple febrile seizures have a high rate of recurrence,which varies with age. Febrile convulsions have a benign course and the risk of developing epilepsy later in life is slight,2.4%.The neurodevelopmental outcome of the child is unhampered. Hence, it is essential to allay the anxiety of parents regarding febrile convulsions and to clarify the distinction between a child having febrileconvulsion and a child having epilepsy. Hencecounseling forms an integral part of any treatment protocol. The present study aims to assess the risk factors leading to simple febrile convulsions in children and to evaluate the clinical and laboratory profile among children with febrile seizures in comparison with children having fever but without seizures and also to assess the pre-counselling knowledge of the parents regarding febrile seizures.
