Acetaminophen and Febrile Seizure Recurrences During the Same Fever Episode

A seizure, even a febrile seizure, is terrifying to the family. Seeking reassurance that their child will not die and does not have epilepsy, parents turn to their physician. What is he or she to do? Often the physician prescribes medication "to prevent further seizures" and then reassures the family that the child will be fine if the medicine is given daily as directed. Both the recommendation and the reassurance are wrong. A Consensus Development Conference on Febrile Seizures held by the National Institutes of Health in 19801 concluded that they would only "consider" anticonvulsant prophylaxis when the child (1) had abnormal neurologic development, (2) had long or focal seizures, (3) had more than two seizures in 24 hours, (4) had a history of nonfebrile seizures in parent or sibling, or (5) was younger than 1 years of age.

Download Full-text

The Association between Serum Sodium Levels and Febrile Seizures Recurrence: Is the Degree of Hyponatremia a Risk Factor?

Journal of Pediatric Neurology ◽

10.1055/s-0041-1722851 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Esma Keleş Alp ◽

Ahmet Midhat Elmacı

Keyword(s):

Serum Sodium ◽

Medical Records ◽

Febrile Seizure ◽

Serum Sodium Level ◽

Febrile Seizures ◽

Lower Sensitivity ◽

Operating Characteristics ◽

Serum Electrolyte ◽

Optimal Cutoff ◽

Characteristics Analysis

AbstractFebrile seizures are common disorders in childhood. We evaluated the serum electrolyte levels and the associated factors in children with single and recurrent febrile seizures in 24 hours period of hospitalization. The medical records of children who were clinically diagnosed with febrile seizures and hospitalized were retrospectively revealed and analyzed. Data were collected for children aged 1 to 6 years including demographic parameters and serum electrolyte levels. A total of 244 children were enrolled in the study in which 209 were diagnosed with single febrile seizures and 35 of them with recurrent febrile seizures. Serum sodium levels were significantly lower in children with recurrent febrile seizure (138.5 ± 2.38 and 134.2 ± 3.55, p < 0.001). Correlation analysis revealed that mild hyponatremia is associated with recurrence of febrile seizure within 24 hours. However, receiver-operating characteristics analysis for hyponatremia showed lower sensitivity (50.3%) and specificity (43.1%) values for optimal cutoff value of 133.5 mmol/L of serum sodium level. Our study suggested that serum sodium levels were significantly lower in children with recurrent febrile seizures. However, because of its lower sensitivity and specificity values, mild hyponatremia cannot be used as an indicator for febrile seizure recurrence.

Download Full-text