ABSTRACT

Febrile convulsion (FC) is the most common type of seizure in children. Its incidence is 2–5%. Iron and zinc, as a major element of some enzymes, play an important role in the central nervous system (CNS) and can affect some inhibitory mechanisms of CNS. The aim of this study is to evaluate the association of FC with iron deficiency anemia and zinc deficiency and the relationship of FC with its pathogenesis.

We prospectively evaluated the demographic and clinical characteristics of FC in 57 children aged 3–60 months who presented to the pediatric emergency department as the case group and 25 healthy children who presented to outpatient clinics as the control group in Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, a tertiary state hospital in İstanbul, between January 2013 and July 2013. Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin (Hb) level of <11 g/dL. The serum zinc levels were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry.

The male to female ratio was 1.71/1. The mean age at the first seizure was 21.6±11.8 months. The most common cause of FC was upper respiratory tract infection (84.2%). Twenty (35.1%) patients had a family history of FC and 8 (14%) had a family history of epilepsy. The most common seizure type was generalized tonic–clonic seizures (78.9%). There was no statistically significant difference between the case and control groups in the anemia ratio, Hb level, Htc, MCV, RDW, RBC count, platelet count, TIBC, and ferritin level. There were statistically significant lower rates of mean serum zinc levels and hypozincemia in the case group.

There was no statistically difference between FC and anemia. The serum zinc levels were found to be lower in patients with FC. The relationship between low zinc levels and convulsion is not understood whether it is a cause or result. It can emphasize the hypothesis that there is a relation between serum zinc levels and febrile convulsion in children. (JAREM 2016; 6: 94-7)

Keywords: Seizure, febrile, iron, zinc