THE ROLE OF FEVER ON CEREBROSPINAL-FLUID GLUCOSE-CONCENTRATION OF CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT CONVULSIONS

In febrile convulsions glucose concentrations are known to increase bo th in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The reason behind this increase is, however, incompletely understood. We have studied the eff ects of convulsion and fever on the CSF and blood glucose concentratio ns in four different groups of children: febrile and non-febrile child ren, with and without convulsions. The concentration of glucose in the CSF was significantly higher in febrile children with (4.4 +/- 0.1 mm ol/l, mean +/- SEM n = 35, p < 0.01, ANOVA, Duncan's test) and without convulsions (3.9 +/- 0.2 mmol/l, n = 22, p < 0.05) than in non-febril e, non-convulsive children (3.3 +/- 0.1 mmol/l, n = 21). In nonfebrile convulsive children, the CSF glucose concentration was 3.7 +/- 0.2 mm ol/l (n = 10). Both fever and seizures increased the CSF glucose level s (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.028, respectively, analysis of covariance). Th ere was a linear correlation between the body temperature and concentr ation of glucose in the CSF (r = 0.454, p < 0.0001, n = 88, Pearson's correlation analysis). The changes in blood glucose concentrations bet ween the groups parallelled those found in the CSF. Our results show t hat hyperglycaemia and an increase in the CSF glucose concentration in febrile convulsions is not explained just by a stress reaction, evoke d by the seizure, as has been hypothesized earlier, but by the influen ce of increased body temperature as well.