Abstracts

RATIONALE: Determination of affected family members of probands with seizure disorders most often requires labor intensive techniques such as structured telephone interviews. METHODS: As part of an epidemiologic study of febrile seizures in Rochester, MN, we ascertained any family history of seizures recorded in the medical record of incident cases that occurred from 1985 through 1994. RESULTS: Of consecutive 271 incident cases, 83 (30.6%) had documentation of one or more affected family members with a history of seizures. Of these 78% were febrile seizures, 6% epilepsy, 4% febrile seizures and epilepsy, and 12% were unknown. Pedigrees were not able to be established by this method. CONCLUSIONS: In this population, the proportion of affected family members is similar to that previously determined by more established techniques. In addition, the types of seizures experienced by family members are similar to those previously reported in the literature. These preliminary findings will require further analysis to determine accuracy, possibly by comparison to a telephone administered structured interview.