A study of association between iron deficiency and febrile seizures

Abstract

Background: Seizure disorder is a common neurologic condition that affects 10% of kids. Febrile seizures are common in children between the ages of three months and five, with risk factors including genetics, age, gender, fever, type and duration of seizures, family and developmental history, multiple seizures, perinatal exposure to anti-retroviral medications, and pre-existing neurologic abnormalities. Risk factors include fever-induced substances, endogenous pyrogens, the cytokine network, iron deficiency, mutations associated with the Dravet syndrome, family history, high temperature, neonatal discharge, creche attendance, maternal alcohol consumption, smoking during pregnancy, and short time interval between onset of fever and first seizure. Methods: The hospital's ethical committee granted permission to proceed, and children hospitalised for other reasons were included in the control group. Blood indices and serum ferritin were compared between case and control groups, and statistical tools were used to evaluate differences. Serum ferritin levels should be between 30 and 300 ng/ml in men and 15 to 0 ng/ml in women, and a low serum ferritin level denotes an iron insufficiency. Results: The majority of febrile seizures were simple, with 6 (20%) having a family history. The case and control groups showed a correlation in temperature, haemoglobin levels, corpuscular volume, hemoglobin, and serum ferritin levels. Six (20%) had low serum ferritin levels of less than 30 micrograms per liter, compared to 0.03% of controls. Conclusions: Iron deficiency is a significant risk factor for febrile seizures, with serum ferritin and red blood cell indices showing lower levels than controls.