Abstracts

Febrile seizure is a bening condition in childhood, but 2-4% of the children will have epilepsy in the future. Analyzing the clinical and EEG features of these children can help future genetic studies to understand the epileptogenesis of this condition. Retrospective analysis of clinical and EEG data of 100 children who comprehend NIH (1980) FS definition. The following aspects were analyzed: 1) EEG features; 2) family history of FS and/or epilepsy; 3) FS recurrence and/or epilepsy. We analyzed 100 children with FS who were seen at the epilepsy out-patient unit between January 1993 and August 2003. Most of the patients had normal EEG (70%), 20% focal discharges, 5% generalized abnormalities, and 5% other EEG patterns (generalized plus focal, multifocal). Among the patients with normal EEG, 51,3% had family history of epilepsy and 35% of FS, and those with focal EEG abnormalities, 30% had family history of epilepsy and 25% of FS, while patients with generalized EEG patterns, 60% had family history of epilepsy and 40% of FS. All patients with focal plus generalized EEG abnormalities had family history of epilepsy, and only 50% of FS. The one child with multifocal EEG activity did not have family history of seizures. FS recurrence was common, it occurred in 68,5% of patients with normal EEG , and in those with abnormal EEG in 73,3%. The outcome with epilepsy occured only in 8,5% of the patients with normal EEG, and in 40% of those with abnormal EEG, which were diagnosed focal epileptic syndrome in 65%. Most FS patients had normal EEG. The patients with focal abnormalities had less family history of epilepsy or FS, than those with generalized EEG abnormalities or normal EEG. These observations could suppose a genetic difference between these groups. FS recurrence was similar in patients with normal (68,5%) and abnormal EEG (73,3%), while the outcome with epilepsy was more frequent in those with abnormal EEG (40%), than in those with normal EEG (8,5%). In this series of patients with FS, the abnormal EEG showed to be better indicator of epilepsy outcome than of FS recurrence.