Is Lumbar Puncture Mandatory for First Simple Febrile Seizures Among Children 6 to 18 Months of Age

Abstract

background: Fever with seizure,is a common complaint with which a child may presented to the emergency department ,is mainly due to febrile seizure, but it may also be duo to central nervous system infection.Objective: This study was done to evaluate the utility of Lumbar puncture for first simple febrile seizures among children 6 to 18 months of age.Method: A prospective study was conducted in emergency department of Karbala teaching hospital for children. Patients who were presented with first simple febrile seizure in age group 6 to 18 months were included. Lumbar puncture was done and meningitis diagnosed on the bases of either cytological and biochemical criteria or Cerebrospinal Fluid culture.Results: Out of 105 patients with First simple febrile seizure, 41 patients (39.05%) were 6 to 12 months old, 41.5% of them had meningitis while 64 patients (60.95%) were 12 to 18 months old, and 17.2% of them had meningitis. Cerebrospinal Fluid, cultures were negative in all cases. meningitis was more in males than females for both age groups with a male:female ratio 3:1.Conclusion: First simple febrile seizure is a common pediatric emergency and high percent of patients with this sole presentation had meningitis.Key words: First simple febrile seizure, Lumbar puncture ,Meningitis.Abbreviations .FSFS:First simple febrile seizure,L.P: Lumbar puncture,CSF: Cerebrospinal Fluid, P value :Probability Value.