OUTCOME AFTER FEBRILE STATUS EPILEPTICUS

The neurological outcome after a first febrile status epilepticus (FSE ) was retrospectively studids in 57 children. Patients were aged six t o 57 months at first seizure and had had no previous seizures or neuro logical abnormalities. 12 children (24 per cent: 2-year Kaplan-Meier e stimate) had subsequent neurological sequelae varying from speech defi cit (n=9) to severe neurological sequelae and epilepsy (n=3). Speech d eficit was detected after a mean period of six months. The most import ant predictors for sequelae were the number of different drugs needed for seizure termination and the duration of the seizure. The authors r ecommend that children with FSE should be followed up for at least one year so that potential speech disorders can be detected and treated.