1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-4-18-a 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-4-3-2 Seizure Disorders Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Predictors of Recurrent Febrile Seizures http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 03 1990 01 08 2016 4 3 18 18 Copyright: © 1990 The Author(s) 1990 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Predictors of recurrent febrile seizures: a metaanalytic review

The results of 14 published reports were analyzed to evaluate the strength of association between proposed risk factors and recurrence of febrile seizures in a metaanalytic review from the Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; Montefiore Medical Center, The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY.

 Metaanalytic Review Pediatrics and Epidemiology Anticonvulsant Prophylaxis

The results of 14 published reports were analyzed to evaluate the strength of association between proposed risk factors and recurrence of febrile seizures in a metaanalytic review from the Departments of Pediatrics and Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; Montefiore Medical Center, The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York; and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY. Young age at onset (less than one year) and a family history of febrile seizures each distinguished between groups with approximately a 30% versus a 50% risk of recurrence. Family history of afebrile seizures, focal, prolonged, and multiple seizures were associated with an inconsistent or only a small increment in risk of recurrence. Only one of five indications for anticonvulsant prophylaxis as defined by the 1980 NIH Consensus Developmental Conference was consistently predictive of a recurrence of febrile seizures. [1]

COMMENT. The risk factors and indications for long term phenobarbital prophylaxis of febrile seizures need to be reconsidered. Therapeutic guidelines may be helpful but the decision to treat must be made on an individual basis. Greater reliance on parental education and intermittent therapy should lessen the necessity for long term therapy with potentially toxic medications.

 Berg AT Shinnar S Hauser WA Leventhal JM Predictors of recurrent febrile seizures: a metaanalytic review J Pediatr 1990 March 116 3 329 337 10.1016/S0022-3476(05)82816-1 2137875