Febrile convulsion, febrile seizure.

Febrile fits is caused due to rapid increase in body temperature of 102 F or higher.

It is not seen in patients with fever for prolonged period of time.

It is more prevalent in children of the age six months to three years. The incidence if febrile fits is higher in boys than in girls.

Having gastroenteritis or upper respiratory tract infection along with fever and young age are the risk factor for febrile fits.

There are two types of febrile fits: simple febrile seizure and complex febrile seizure.

The simple seizure lasts only for up to 15 minutes and normally it does not reoccur in next 24 hours. In simple seizure whole body is involved like classic generalized tonic-clonic seizure.

The complex seizure is for longer time, it reoccurs and only one part is involved.
Due to simple seizure there is no permanent brain injury. If the child has complex seizure and the first degree relatives have febrile seizures, abnormal neurological indicators or developmental delay then these children may suffer from a febrile epileptic attack in future.

The symptoms are rolling of the child’s eyes, stiffening or jerking of the limbs, loss of consciousness or full body convulsion. It may start with sudden continued contraction of the muscles of both the sides of the body, generally facial, trunk, arm and leg muscles. Unintentional cry or moan may be seen due to force of contracting muscles.

If the child is standing he may fall and urine may be passed. Tongue biting, vomiting, difficulty in breathing may be there and eventually child may turn blue.

There are repetitive moments of relaxation after continued contractions and the body starts jerking at regular intervals. At this stage the child does not respond to parent’s voice.

Febrile fits is diagnosed after ruling out the other causes for seizure like epilepsy, meningitis or encephalitis. If the child comes back to normal state of health in a little while after the fit then the infection of the nervous system is ruled out. In this there is no other abnormality present other than the cause of the high fever. Blood and urine tests may be done to check for any infection.

If it is a simple febrile fit, there is no developmental abnormality and physician has diagnosed it as simple febrile fit then further tests can be avoided. Otherwise EEG, Computerized tomography of the head and lumbar puncture (spinal tap) is required.

Though the febrile fit is due to sudden fever, it is not necessary to bring down fever to stop the seizure. It is best that the child remain in lying position.

When the fit is diagnosed as febrile fit then the cause of the fever is found out and treatment is given to cure the cause.

Anti-convulsion treatment is given via rectum or intravenously for febrile fits.

Hospital stay is generally not required for febrile fit.

Prognosis of simple febrile fit is excellent; by the age of five years most of the children outgrow the fits. Simple febrile fits do not cause mental retardation, learning disability or brain damage.

But in complex febrile fit there is a risk of death. In some children there may be epilepsy in future. Having family history of epilepsy is a risk factor for epilepsy in future.

Injury from falling, seepage of fluid in the lungs, self biting, recurrent febrile seizures, injury due to prolonged or complicated seizure, complications of serious diseases like meningitis and side effects of the medicines are the complications of febrile fits.

Soon after the first seizure child should be taken to the doctor. It is important to take the child to the doctor even though the seizure has ended. If fits is longer than five minutes then the child should be taken to emergency room. If fits are reoccurring then it is better to do the advanced tests.

It is not possible to prevent febrile fit from occurring, however, by tackling the risk factors its chances can be mitigated.