Iron Deficiency Anemia & Febrile Seizures case- Control Study in Children Under 5years

Abstract

Abstract: A case control study is done on children aged 6mo - 5years attained Tikrit Teaching Hospital and Beji General Hospital during the period from the 1st January to the end of December 2005. To investigate the association between iron deficiency anemia and febrile seizures. Methods: Measures of iron sufficiency including hemoglobin concentration (HB), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and plasma ferritin (PF), were measured in 100 children with febrile seizure and compared with 100 controls matched for age and sex with febrile illnesses without convulsions. Results: The study showed a preponderance of males with febrile seizures, and male to female ratio was (1.5: 1) while in controls male to female ratio was (1.27: 1). Mean ferritin level was significantly lower in cases with febrile seizure ( 29.5 ± 21.3 µg/L) than in controls (53.3 ± 37.6 µg/L) with p = 0.0001. The proportion of subjects with a PF level ≤30 µg/L was significantly higher among children with FS (66 of 100 vs. 32 of 100) than in controls (p = 0.000). Mean level of Hb, MCV, and MCH also were lower among FS cases, but differences failed to attain statistical significance. A higher proportion of cases with FS had an HB < 110 g/L, MCV< 72 fL, and MCH < 24 pg than did the controls, but the differences were not statistically significant. There were no statistically significant differences between the cases and the controls in the mean peak temperature on admission, types of underlying illness, or family history of epilepsy and of febrile convulsion.Conclusions: PF level was significantly lower in children with FS than in the control group, suggesting a possible role for iron insufficiency in FS. Key words: Iron status – febrile seizure.