Recurrence Rate of Febrile Seizures by Combining Risk Factors

Moon, Su Jung; Sun, Gu Ken; Kim, Eun Young; Na, Kyong Hee; Park, Sun Young; Kim, Kyoung Sim; Kim, Yong Wook

Abstract

PURPOSE: In previous studies, various risk factors for recurrent febrile seizures have been identified. But none of these risk factors alone could sufficiently discriminate children at high or low risk for recurrent seizures. Therefore, we tried to identify patients at high risk of recurrent febrile seizures by combining risk factors.
METHODS
Two hundred and four children who had been admitted to our hospital from March, 1997 to July, 1999 with their first febrile seizures were enrolled in our study, and followed up over 2 years. We investigated the recurrence rate according to variables such as sex, age at first febrile seizure, family history of febrile seizures or epilepsy, type of the first seizure, neurologic abnormality and EEG abnormality.
RESULTS
Family history of febrile seizures and age at first febrile seizure(<12 months) were significant independent risk factors for recurrent febrile seizures. With these two combined factors, four groups were allocated and the recurrence rate by each group was designated as follows: group with no family history of febrile seizures and age at first febrile seizure >or=12 months (no risk factor), 43.8%; the group with no family history and age <12 months(one risk factor), 61.7%; group with family history and age >or=12 months(one risk factor), 64.5%; group with family history and age <12 months(two risk factors), 90.4%.
CONCLUSION
A correlation between numbers of risk factors and recurrence rate was present and the children with a family history of febrile seizures and a young age at onset(<12 months) were regarded as a high risk group of recurrence.