Febrile Seizure and Anemia

Objective

Considering the controversial results in present day literature regarding the relationship between febrile seizures and anemia and the high rate of such seizures in children, this study was conducted to evaluate the association between pediatric febrile seizures and anemia.

Material and Methods

In this case-control study, conducted in 2003, 60 children with febrile seizure(cases) and 60 febrile children without seizure(controls) were evaluated in the Kashan Shahid Beheshti hospital; all patients were matched for age, sex, type of feeding, and use of supplemental iron. Thirty-six (60%) and 39 (65%) of the patients in case and control groups respectively were male, and the remaining female. Levels of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and red blood cell indices were determined in all children and Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to analyze data.

Results

Of the case group, 13.3% (6 male, 2 female) and of controls, 20% (9 male, 3 female) of children had anemia (p= 0.327), the condition being more common in male children aged over 6 months. Febrile seizures were found to occur mostly between the ages of 6 to 24 months.

Conclusion

The risk of febrile seizure occurrence in anemic children seems to be less than that in children who do not suffer from the condition.