Febrile Seizures in Thalassemic Patients in Babylon Teaching Hospital for Maternity and Children

Abstract

Febrile seizures are the most common seizures in children. Their incidence is (2-5 %). To date, the
pathophysiology of febrile seizures is unknown. But several hypotheses have been supposed that it
may relate with plasma iron level. Such low risk in thalassemic patients whose plasma iron level is high
could give some clues to this hypothesis.
Aim of the Study: Determine the risk of febrile seizure in thalassemic patients in comparism with the
corresponding control group.
Patients and Methods: This case –control study was conducted on one hundred fifty patients with
thalassemia major between six month and six years of age who were visit Babylon center for inherited
blood diseases in the Teaching hospital for maternity and children from April 2019 to January 2020.
All medical records of thalassemic patients were thoroughly reviewed and the occurrence of febrile
seizures are interviewed and compared with the control group .The children in the control group are
neither thalassemic nor has iron deficiency anemia.
Results: Febrile seizure was detected in one case of the thalassemic group (0.66%) versus six cases
(4%) of the control group. The risk of febrile seizure in the control group was 6 times more than that in
the thalassemia group, which was statistically significant (P =0.036).
Conclusion: The risk of febrile seizures in thalassemic patients was (0.16) that of the general children
population. Thus, iron overload may be a major factor involving the brain metabolism that prevents
febrile seizures.