A Clinical Study of Febrile Seizures in Children in a Tertiary Care Hospital

A child with a febrile seizure is one of the more common causes of admission to a paediatric ward. Febrile seizures are the most common type of seizures seen in 2-5% of children aged below 5 years. The incidence and prevalence of febrile seizure is similar across the numerous febrile seizure studies. Although febrile seizure is known to have a genetic basis, mode of inheritance is not yet clear. There are three types of febrile seizures: simple febrile seizure, complex febrile seizure and febrile status epilepticus. This was an observational study conducted in the department of paediatrics on children between 6 months to 5 years of age having convulsions, associated with fever but without the evidence of intracranial infection. Out of 5783 children admitted in the paediatric wards 100 children were diagnosed to have febrile seizures accounting to the incidence of 17.29/1000. Out of 100 children with febrile seizures 55 were males and 45 were female children. In these children 69 children had typical febrile seizures and 31 children had atypical febrile seizures. In these children 92 children had generalised seizures, 6 children had focal seizures and 2 children had hemiconvulsions. Out of these cases 68% of the cases occurred below 2 years of age. Most of the children 69% had single episode of seizure per febrile episode. A few children 8% of the children had more than 4 episode of seizure in the present febrile episode. In our study 70% of the children had convulsions within 24hrs of onset of fever. In this study 87% of the cases had no family history of convulsions, 7% had history of convulsions in the siblings, 2% had history of convulsions in the parents and 4% had history of convulsions in the second degree relatives. Respiratory tract infections were the commonest cause of fever in febrile convulsions about 78%. Though upper respiratory tract infection is the most common underlying cause for fever in children with febrile seizures other treatable causes like lower respiratory tract infections, acute gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections and other viral infections should be kept in mind. Education and reassurance of the parents is the cornerstone of management and follow-up for this disorder.