The association between iron deficiency anemia and first febrile seizure : a case-control study

Abstract EN

Background Febrile seizures (FS) are the most common type of seizures in children.

The relationship between iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and first FS has been examined in several studies with conflicting results.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine the association between IDA and first FS.

Patients and Methods In this prospective case-control study we assessed 112 children with a diagnosis of first FS, aged between 5 months and 4 years who were admitted to the emergency unit of Hevi Children’s Hospital in Duhok/Kurdistan region/Iraq, or who visited private office of the authors, during January 2006 to July 2009.

The control group consisted of 120 febrile children without convulsion; controls were matched to the cases by gender and age.

Patients and controls were reviewed to determine iron status using the hemoglobin concentration (Hb), mean corpuscular volume, S.

iron, and total iron binding capacity.

Results A total of 35 (31.2%) of cases had IDA, compared to 14 (11.6%) of controls, which is statistically significant, P = 0.003.

Conclusion IDA was more frequent among children with FS than those with febrile illness alone.

The results suggest that IDA may be a risk factor for FS and screening for IDA should be considered in children presenting with the first FS.