Demographic and clinical characteristic of febrile convulsion in children admitted in Valiasr hospital of Birjand

Febrile convulsion (FC) is the most common seizure disorder in childhood and a common cause of admission in pediatric hospitals. The present study was conducted to determine the characteristics of febrile convulsion in children. In this cross-sectional study, all children (9 months to 6 years old) that were admitted with the diagnosis of seizure in pediatric department of Valiasr hospital of Birjand, during one year (March 2007 to 2008) were studied. The obtained data was analyzed by means of SPSS software (version 11) applying chi-square at the significant level of α=0.05. Out of 145 children with seizure, 102 cases (70.3%) had FC and 43(19.7%) had other causes. Mean age of children with FC was 25.5±18.6 months. FC was more prevalent in the boys than girls (58.8% vs. 41.2%). The most common types of seizure were simple FC (61.8%) and complex FC (38.2%). Generalized tonic-clonic seizure was the most common form (90.2%). The most common underlying causes were respiratory infections (45.1%), followed by gastroenteritis (21.6%). There was no significant correlation between age, sex and the type of seizure. Simple FC was more prevalent in children with the positive family history of this type of seizure. Majority (74.5%) of children were referred with the first attack of FC. The epidemiological and clinical characteristics of FC in our study were similar to other studies in other places, although the incidence of complex FC was considerable that require a more serious approach.