The Role of Electroencephalography in the Prediction of Relapse of Febrile Convulsion in Patients Aged Between 6 to 60 Months: A Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

AbstractFebrile seizures (FS) are the most common type of seizure in pediatrics, and patients with FS can present with recurrent febrile seizures (RFS). Some clinical factors have been known to predict RFS, but there is no consensus regarding electroencephalography (EEG). We aimed to determine the ability of EEG to predict RFS. This prospective cohort study was done in children aged between 6 and 60 months. The EEG was performed on patients 2 weeks after the FS, and the patients were followed up for 6 months. Two hundred patients were enrolled. Recurrence of febrile convulsion occurred in 27% of the patients. A higher risk of recurrent seizures was seen in females compared with males (p = 0.04, hazard ratio [HR] = 1.83), children with a family history of seizure (p = 0.011, HR = 2), people with fever-to-seizure interval <1 hour (p = 0.009, HR = 6.1), as well as 1 to 24 hours interval between fever and seizure (p = 0.033, HR = 2.15), aEnd patients with abnormal EEG findings compared with normal EEG (p = 0.001, HR = 4.45). There was no significant relationship between RFS and other studied factors. This study showed the ability of EEG to predict RFS, and the results showed a higher likelihood of recurrence occurring in subjects with abnormal rather than normal EEG.