Korean J Pediatr.  2009 Jan;52(1):81-86. 10.3345/kjp.2009.52.1.81.

Complex febrile convulsions: A clinical study

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Ilsan Paik Hospital, College of Me dicine , Inje Unive rsity, Goyang, Korea. dwkim@paik.ac.kr

Abstract

PURPOSE
Febrile convulsions are classified into simple or complex types, the latter being characterized by increased risk of recurrence and progression to epilepsy. This study aimed to delineate the clinical characteristics of complex febrile convulsions.
METHODS
Between January 2003 and December 2006, 550 children were diagnosed with febrile convulsions at the Department of Pediatrics, Ilsan Paik Hospital. Their medical records were retrospectively reviewed for comparison between simple and complex febrile convulsions, and clinical findings of complex febrile convulsions were clarified.
RESULTS
Our subjects comprised a male-to-female ratio of 1.64:1; the age range was from 8 months to 8 years. Simple febrile convulsions comprised 432 cases, i.e., 4 times as many as complex febrile convulsions (118 cases). The causes of febrile illness included acute pharyngotonsillitis (357 cases, 64.9%), pneumonia (55 cases, 10.0%), acute gastroenteritis (37 cases, 6.7%), and otitis media (20 cases, 3.6%). We did not find any significant difference between simple and complex febrile convulsions in most clinical parameters such as gender, age, family history of febrile convulsions, and cause of febrile illness. Regarding subtypes of complex febrile convulsions, repeated convulsions were the most frequent (72.0%), followed by prolonged convulsions (16.9%) and focal convulsions (5.1%).
CONCLUSION
We have reported here the clinical features of complex febrile convulsions. Although the results did not show any significant difference between simple and complex febrile convulsions in most clinical parameters such as gender, age, family history of febrile convulsion, and cause of febrile illness, further studies are essential to delineate complex febrile convulsions.

Keyword

Complex febrile convulsions; Child; Etiology; Clinical characte ristics

MeSH Terms

Child
Epilepsy
Gastroenteritis
Humans
Medical Records
Otitis Media
Pediatrics
Pneumonia
Recurrence
Retrospective Studies
Seizures
Seizures, Febrile
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