Correlation of Serum Zinc Level with Simple Febrile Seizures: A Hospital based Prospective Case Control Study

Introduction Febrile seizures are one of the most common neurological conditions of childhood. It seems that zinc deficiency is associated with increased risk of febrile seizures. The main purpose of the study is to estimate the serum Zinc level in children with simple febrile seizures and to find the correlation, if any between serum zinc level and simple febrile seizures. Materials and Methods The proposed study was a hospital based prospective case control study which included infants and children aged between 6 months to 5 years, at Post Graduate Department of Pediatrics, (SMGS) Hospital, GMC Jammu, Northern India. A total of 200 infants and children fulfilling the inclusion criteria were included. Patients were divided into 100(cases) in Group A with simple febrile seizure and 100(controls) in Group B of children with acute febrile illness without seizure. All patients were subjected to detailed history and thorough clinical examination followed by relevant investigations. Results Our study had slight male preponderance of 62% in cases and 58% in controls. Mean serum zinc level in cases was 61.53+/-15.87 ugm/dl and in controls it was 71.90+ 18.50 ugm/dl. Serum zinc level was found significantly low in cases of simple febrile seizures as compared to controls (P< 0.05). Conclusion The presence of biochemical hypozincemia, associated with other risk factors for simple febrile seizures may enhance the occurrence of febrile seizures, thus a possible correlation exists between the mean serum zinc level and simple febrile seizures.