J Korean Child Neurol Soc.  2003 Nov;11(2):309-315.

Prophylactic Treatment with Diazepam or Valproate in Children with Recurrent Febrile Seizures

• Sun GK
• Lee SY
• Kim EY
• Na KH
• Park SY
• Kim KS
• Kim YW

Abstract

PURPOSE: We tried to evaluate the effect of prophylactic treatment with short-term intermittent diazepam or long-term continuous valproate in prenventing the recurrence febrile seizures and compare the efficacy of both drugs.
METHODS
Eighty six children who were admitted to the Kwangju Christian Hospital from March, 1997 to July, 1999 with more than three febrile seizures and more than one risk factor were enrolled in our study and followed up for one year. Among them, sixteen belonged to an oral diazepam group and twelve to a valproate group while fifty eight to a control group. We investigated the recurrence rate of each group for the period of a year.
RESULTS
In the diazepam group, diazepam(0.3 mg/kg/dose) was administered orally every eight hours during the first febrile day and the recurrence rate was 6.2%. The recurrence rate of the valproate group(17 mg/kg/day, bid) was 25%. Those treatments significantly reduced the recurrence rates of febrile convulsions compared to the untreated control group(74.1%), but no significant differences were found between the two treatment groups in the respect of recurrence rates of febrile seizures.
CONCLUSION
Both intermittent diazepam and continuous valproate treatment were equally effective in preventing the recurrence of febrile seizures.

Keyword

Prophylactic treatment; Diazepam; Valproate; Recurrence of febrile seizures

MeSH Terms

Child*
Diazepam*
Gwangju
Humans
Recurrence
Risk Factors
Seizures, Febrile*
Valproic Acid*
Diazepam
Valproic Acid