Febrile convulsion is one of the most common neurolgic disorders in childhood which is an age related phenomenon. There are many conflicts about characteristics of this type of seizure, treatment of acute type of the disease and preventive measures.For preparing this review article, the available references of the last ten years (1991-2000) have been studied. According to the results of this review, longterm treatment with anticonvulsant drugs such as phenobarbitals not recommended due to the consequent lowering of the IQ and reduction of cognitive ability. Preferable preventive treatment is intermittent diazepam during a febrile disease.

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.

Background & Objectives: Febrile convulsion is a disease with good prognosis but its mismanagement leads patients to serious complications. This study was conducted to compare practice guidelines with current practices in the management of children with first febrile convulsion.Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on patients hospitalized with the diagnosis of first febrile convulsion in Imam-Khomeni hospital of Urmia in 2004. The data were collected from their hospital records. Practice guidelines of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) were employed as reference. Current practices were compared with AAP recommended practice parameter about simple febrile seizure. Investigations performed included lumbar puncture, complete blood count, CRP, ESR, blood glucose, serum calcium, serum electrolytes, renal function tests, urinalysis, urine, and blood culture, chest X-ray, EEG and CT scan.Results: Two hundred fifty one cases aged 6-60 months were studied. Complete blood count, ESR, CPR, blood glucose, serum calcium, serum electrolytes, renal function tests, urinalysis, urine culture, and blood culture in all cases (100%), lumbar puncture in 10%, chest X-ray in 24%, EEG in 1.4% and CT scan in 0.65% of cases were the measurements conducted. Conclusions: The present study showed that the use of unnecessary investigations was common. Investigations, though costly, proved to be of little diagnostic value. This problem can be alleviated through a well-organized national program or observing AAP practical guidelines.

Objective: Febrile seizure is the most common seizure disorder in children. Its pathophysiology is not fully understood yet; however, some risk factors have been cited for it. Iron is one of these influential elements and is involved in the metabolism of some neurotransmitters which are reduced in irondeficiency anemia and also increases the sensitivity of neural cells during a febrile episode. The present study aimed to determine the rate of febrile seizure in thalassemic patients and to compare it with the corresponding rate in the normal population.Materials & Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 766 patients with thalassemia major. They were all older than 6 months and were referred to Dastghaib Cooly’s Clinic, affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, from Oct 2006 to May 2007, and 766 normal and healthy children as the control group. Questionnaires containing demographic data and past history of febrile seizure, age of febrile seizure, number of episodes, hospitalization, and related family history were prepared and filled through interviewing the parents.Results: Febrile seizure was detected in 7 cases of the patient group (0.9%) versus 18 cases (2.3%) of the control group. The frequency of febrile seizure in the controls was 2.5 times more than that in the thalassemia group, which was statistically significant (P < 0.05).Conclusion: This study showed a lower rate of febrile convulsion in thalassemic patients compared to the control group. Accordingly, it could be suggested that high iron storage is a protective factor against febrile convulsion.