Febrile convulsions in a Serbian region: a 10-year epidemiological study

The first population-based study in the central region of the Republic of S erbia (total population 283,103) was carried out to assess some epidemiolog ical features of febrile convulsions among children of between 6 months and 5 years of age. During the 10-year period, 1986 to 1995, there were 570 ca ses of the first febrile convulsions (287 males and 283 females). The avera ge annual incidence rate was 3/1000 (2.9/1000 in males and 3.0/1000 in fema les), with the highest in 1995. During the study period, a significantly in creased linear regression trend was observed. During the follow-up period o f 5 years for children who had their first febrile convulsions in 1989 and 1990 (total 154 cases), 27 (17.5%) had a recurrence of the disorder, and te n (6.5%) had one or more afebrile seizures, of whom seven children (4.5% of total sample) developed epilepsy (recurrent afebrile seizures). Eur J Neur ol 6:39-42 (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.