The First Febrile Seizure: An Updated Study for Clinical Risk Factors

Objectives: The study aimed to determine major clinical risk factors for seizures in febrile children aged 6 - 60 months. Methods: One hundred seventy five febrile children aged 6 - 60 months with or without seizure were studied. Demographic, family history of epilepsy, family history of febrile seizure, type of parturition, smoking in pregnancy, infection diseases, and other predisposing factors were analyzed. Results: Among the 175 children (97 patients with febrile seizure as the case group and 78 febrile patients without seizure as the control group), 90 cases (51.4%) were female and 85 cases (48.6%) were male with the average age of 23.02 +/- 17.78 months. There was no significant difference between the groups in age and sex (P = 0.05). Seizure was simple in 73 patients (75.3%) and complex in 24 patients (24.7%). There was a family history of febrile seizure in 24 patients of the case group (24.7%) and one patient of the control group (1.3%) (P < 0.001). There was a family history of epilepsy in 17 (17.5%) and three (3.8%) patients in the case and control groups, respectively (P = 0.005). The upper respiratory infection was detected more in the case group (P < 0.001). 62 patients (63.9%) of the case group and 30 patients (40%) of the control group were delivered via cesarean sections (P= 0.002). The family history of epilepsy, cesarean section, family history of FS, and upper respiratory tract infection were recognized as the risk factors for convulsion in febrile children with 11.35, 3.43, 25.33, and 6.26 odds ratios, respectively. Conclusions: The family history of epilepsy, cesarean section, family history of febrile seizure, and upper respiratory tract infection are the most common risk factors for seizure in febrile children.