Low serum zinc and magnesium–a possible risk factor for first episode Simple febrile seizures in children between 6 months to 5 years of age

Abstract

Background: Febrile seizure is the most common type of seizure in children. The incidence of febrile seizure is 5-10% in India. There are multiple aetiologies like high grade fever; genetic predisposition, viral infections and trace elements deficiency like iron, zinc, magnesium and calcium are postulated to be risk factors for developing febrile seizures. Recent studies had shown there is a significant association between low serum zinc, low serum magnesium levels and febrile seizures in children.Methods: This was a case control study with 40 children in each group. Children aged 6 months to 5 years with first episode of simple febrile seizures who attends the out-patient department/emergency room (OPD/ER) were included in case group consecutively and 40 children with acute febrile illness without febrile seizures were included in control group. Serum zinc and magnesium levels were estimated for all the children along with other investigations after proper consent from parents. Using statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) software, independent sample t test was used to analysis the observations between the two groups. Normal lab reference value of serum zinc was 60-120 μg/dl and serum magnesium was 1.7-2.5 mg/dl.Results: The incidence of febrile seizure was high (37.5%) in children between 1-2 years and male (55%) children had increased incidence when compared to female children in case group. The children with febrile seizure had significantly low levels of serum zinc with mean value of 35.08 μg/dl (±8.56) when compared to control group with mean value of 70.23 μg/dl (±13.41) and serum magnesium level in case group was 1.35 mg/dl (±0.29) versus 1.68 mg/dl (±0.42) in control group, which was also statistically significant.Conclusions: The incidence of febrile seizure was high in children between 1-2 years of age with male preponderance. The serum levels of both zinc and magnesium is significantly low in children with febrile seizure pointing a need of further studies in role of supplemental zinc and magnesium in this age group to reduce the incidence of febrile seizures.