Febrile Seizures
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Febrile Seizures
- Febrile seizures are convulsions associated with an elevated temperature greater than 38 degrees Celsius in children 6 months to 5 years of age.
- They occur in 2 to 4 % of children younger than 5 years old and are slightly more common in males.
- We subdivide febrile seizures into simplex and complex febrile seizures.
Simple Febrile Seizures
- Febrile seizures are considered simple if they are generalized seizures that last less than 15 minutes and do not recur within a 24-hour period.
Complex Febrile Seizures
- Febrile seizures are considered complex, if any of the following occur: they are focal seizures, last longer than 15 minutes, or occur more than once in a 24-hour period.
Causes
- Febrile seizures are more commonly due to viral infections than bacterial (HHV-6 being the most commonly associated viral illness), they tend to occur early in the illness, and no explicit work-up is mandated but rather testing is patient-specific.
Febrile Seizure Exclusions
- The following conditions exclude a possible diagnosis of febrile seizures:
- CNS infection or inflammation
- Systemic metabolic abnormalities
- History of nonfebrile seizures