Abstract

Dr. Syeda Binte-E-Zahra*, Dr. Waseem Ahmad, Dr. Nabila Arshad and Dr. Awais Tariq

ABSTRACT

Background: There is controversy regarding association of Iron deficiency anemia and febrile seizures. Febrile seizures is one of the most common neurological disorder in children, which mostly encounters 3% to 5% of children between the 3 to 60 months of age. Similarly Iron deficiency is known cause of neurological symptoms like behavioural changes, attention and learning deficits in children. Some studies supports the idea that anemia is more common in children with febrile seizures, whereas others have reported that iron deficiency raises the seizure threshold. There are some other studies that doesn’t support this hypothesis. Purpose of this study was to find association between iron deficiency anemia and febrile seizures in children. Methods: It was a case control study done at pediatrics department Nishtar Hospital Multan from September 2017 to February 2018. We evaluated 100 children aged between 5 months to 6 years. We enrolled 52 patients who presented with febrile convulsions as Cases and remaining 48 children who presented with febrile illness without convulsions as Controls. Detailed history and examination was done. All the patients were evaluated for iron deficiency anemia by measuring by measuring haemoglobin level, serum ferritin level, Total iron binding capacity (TIBC), Red Cell Distribution, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) and peripheral blood film. Patients with iron deficiency anemia amongst controls and cases were documented. Percentages and Odds ratio were derived from the collected data. Results: We found that 34.61% of cases (18 out of 52) were having iron deficiency anemia whereas, 22.91% of controls (11 out of 48) had iron deficiency anemia as revealed by low levels of haemoglobin level, serum ferritin level, Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration and Mean Corpuscular Volume. Odds ratio was 1.78. Conclusion: Patients with febrile seizures are 1.93 times more likely to have iron deficiency anemia compared to febrile patients without seizures.