Clinical characteristics and risk factors of patients with febrile convulsions

Purpose: Febrile convulsion is the most common seizure type in childhood and ranks first among childhood neurological disorders. In this study, it was aimed to determine the risk factors that cause seizures by prospectively comparing patients diagnosed with febrile convulsions and patients with febrile disease but without convulsions. Materials and Methods: Patients with febrile convulsions who applied to Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Emergency and Pediatric Neurology between March 2021 and March 2022, and who did not have seizures between these dates, did not have CNS infection findings such as meningitis, encephalitis, and did not have an upper and lower respiratory tract infection. Patients presenting with acute fever such as urinary tract infection (seizure-free control group) were included. A total of 140 patients, 70 patients in the febrile convulsion group and 70 patients in the control group, were included in the study. Demographic and clinical characteristics of all patients included in the study, complete blood count at the time of admission, biochemical parameters, serum iron, ferritin, vitamin D, vitamin B12 and folate levels, iron binding capacity were evaluated prospectively. Results: Of the patients who had febrile convulsions, 37 (52.9%) were male and 33 (47.1%) were female. The mean age at first FC was found to be 29.8±16.2 months. The number of cases with simple FC was 56 (80%), and the number of cases with complicated FC was 13 (18.5%). The most common upper respiratory tract infection was seen at the time of admission. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures were observed in 65.7% of the patients. We found that the presence of a family history of febrile convulsions, low educational level of the families, consanguinity between parents, low serum calcium, vitamin D, iron level and transferrin saturation had a significant effect on having a febrile convulsion (p<0.05). Conclusion: It has been observed that serum iron, calcium and vitamin D levels are lower in children with febrile convulsions. Further studies are needed to show whether blood iron, calcium and vitamin d levels are risk factors for the development of febrile convulsions.