Febrile seizures: possible outcomes.

Jacqueline A. French, MD WHAT DID THE RESEARCHERS DO? The investigators wanted to learn more about whether a common condition called “febrile seizures” was harmful to the brain.1 They also looked at whether they could increase the risk of developing epilepsy later. Febrile seizures are defined as seizures that occur in children with a high fever (over 101°F). They are common in children under the age of 5.2 The study (called the FEBSTAT study) looked at children with the most severe form of febrile (fever) seizures, known as febrile status epilepticus (FSE). FSE is a febrile seizure lasting for more than 30 minutes. They studied 199 children who were between 1 month and 5 years of age. A febrile seizure was defined as a seizure that occurred with a fever of greater than 101°F, where there was no other identified cause of the seizure. The child could not have had seizures without fever prior to enrollment. They also excluded children who had any other known brain problem. Children were recruited from 5 hospitals in New York, Illinois, North Carolina, and Virginia. They received a brain wave study (EEG) as well as an imaging study of the brain (MRI) within 72 hours of the FSE. Blood samples were taken to determine whether the children had a virus causing their fever. Doctors were particularly interested in looking for specific viruses (the human herpesvirus 6 and 7) which are known to cause febrile seizures. These viruses have been found in the brains of patients who underwent surgery for severe epilepsy.3 The children with FSE were compared to 96 children who were in a different study of febrile seizures. Unlike the FSE children, the comparison children had only had a brief febrile seizure with no unusual features.