Neurodiagnostic evaluation of a child with first complex febrile seizure

Background: febrile seizure is the most common type of childhood seizure and complex febrile seizure has been associated with the risk of epilepsy. the neurodiagnostic evaluation of a child with first cfs is still unclear. aim & objective: to assess the clinical characteristics and diagnostic evaluation of children aged 1 month to 5 years presenting with first complex febrile seizure (cfs) and to determine the utility of various investigations in a case of first cfs. material and methods: a prospective study was conducted in the pediatric department of a tertiary hospital. fortynine children aged 1 month-5 years with first cfs fulfilling the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study over duration of 8-months. all the cases were evaluated with complete blood count,serum calcium,serum electrolytes,electroencephalography (eeg),ct/mri and lumbar puncture. results: the investigation results were analyzed with respect to different cfs parameter like type of seizure (focal or generalized) and duration of seizure(less than or more than 15 minutes). upper respiratory tract infection is the main cause of febrile seizure. the duration of cfs did not vary according to the underlying cause. serum calcium levels are found to be lower in children with complex febrile seizure. all children with cfs,whether focal or multiple generalized,whether of long or short duration,had a normal eeg. children who had prolonged focal and multiple generalized seizures had abnormal neuroimaging but it was not statistically significant. conclusion: we conclude from our study that a child with first cfs may not need eeg and neuroimaging as a diagnostic evaluation test. hypocalcemia can be identified in these children and can be corrected to stop the seizure. further studies are needed on a large series of children with first cfs to form guidelines for their neurodiagnostic evaluation. � journal of krishna institute of medical sciences university.