A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY ON THE CLINICAL PATTERN OF FEBRILE SEIZURES IN CHILDREN AGED 6 MONTHS TO 5 YEARS

Abstract

Background: Febrile seizure is one of the most common seizure disorders among children between 6 months and 5 years of age and is usually associated with fever and without evidence of intracranial infection or metabolic imbalance. Objective: To study the clinical pattern of febrile seizures in children aged 6 months to 5 years presenting to a tertiary care teaching hospital. Method: This was a hospital based observational descriptive research conducted at the Department of Paediatrics in Netaji Subhas Medical College and Hospital, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India among 95 children diagnosed with febrile seizure. Age, age at first episode, seizure type, seizure presentation, seizure frequency, family history, aetiology of fever, results of lumbar puncture and recurrence data were gathered and analysed by frequency, percentage and relevant statistical tests. Result: The biggest number of children was in the 13–24 months age group (37.9%). The first episode was also most typically seen at 13–24 months (51.6%). Simple febrile seizure was the most prevalent kind (76.8%) and presentation was generalised tonic clonic seizure (71.6%). Seventy-seven (81.1%) of children experienced one episode of seizure. The most common cause of fever was upper respiratory tract illness (55.8%). Recurrence was seen in 31 children and the age at first episode ≤12 months was significantly associated with recurrence (p=0.03). Conclusion: Febrile seizure was prevalent in children less than two years of age and simple febrile seizure was the commonest form. Those with an earlier age at first episode were considerably more likely to have a recurrence.