THE STUDY OF FEBRILE SEIZURES IN CHILDREN AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA

Abstract

Background: Febrile seizures occur in 2% to 5% of neurologically healthy children. It is estimated that 30% of the global population suffers from iron deciency anaemia. Considering the high prevalence of iron deciency in children under 5 years and conicting results from previous studies, we planned this research to study the role of iron deciency as a risk factor for febrile seizures in children. Methods:AHospital-based case-control study was conducted at, GANNAVARAM from April 2021 to September 2022. Atotal of 100 infants and children aged between 6 months to 5 years were included in the present study and are further divided into 2 groups of 50 each. Estimation of haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin was done. Results:In the present study 48% cases and 44% controls were in the age group in 12 to 23 months. There were 29 males among cases and 27 males among controls. Among cases 20 females were present as compared to 23 females in control group. There were 38 cases who had rst febrile seizure and 12 cases had past history of febrile seizure. There were 29 cases with hemoglobin less than 10.5 gm% and 14 controls with hemoglobin less than 10.5 gm% in the age group 6 months to 23 months. Hemoglobin was more than 10.5 gm% among 10 cases and 20 among controls. Among the age group 2years and above 7 case and 4 controls had hemoglobin less than 11.5 gm% and 13 controls had hemoglobin more than 11.5 gm%. 29 cases had MCVless than 70 and 15 in control group had MCVless than 70. 32 cases had MCH less than 25 and 18 cases had MCH more than 25. Conclusion: Iron deciency, common in the age group of less than 5 years, is a risk factor for febrile seizure. Early detection and timely correction of iron deciency may be helpful for the prevention of febrile seizures in children of this age group