FIRST FEBRILE SEIZURES - CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHILD, THE SEIZURE, AND THE ILLNESS

Through interviews with parents, data were gathered about 910 first fe brile seizures in children aged 8 to 34 months. A male preponderance o f 57% was found (P<.001). In 29% of cases, there was a family history of febrile seizures. Eighteen percent of seizures were focal, and 7% l asted 15 minutes or more. Focal seizures were much more likely to be o f long duration (P<.001). Otitis media was diagnosed in 32% of cases, and tonsillitis or upper respiratory infection in 12%. When compared t o febrile seizures after the first birthday, febrile seizures in child ren aged 8 to 11 months were more than twice as likely to be longer th an 15 minutes (P=.015). They were also much more likely to be followed by further seizures in the same illness (P<.001). Thus, febrile seizu res in children younger than 1 year are more likely to have the charac teristics known to increase the risk of later nonfebrile seizures.