Abstract

This study aimed at describing the frequency and clinical spectrum of seizure disorders among hospitalized children and determining the various underline etiologies in this population with reference to age, sex and the overall outcomes. A retrospective analysis of all medical records for children admitted to Al-Sadaqa General Teaching Hospital with seizures, during a period of two years (Jan 2008- Dec 2009) was carried. A total of 318 children were included, 181; (56.9%) were males and 137 (43.1%) were females. The majority of seizures were associated with fever (82.7%), commonly in the age group 6 months- 5 years (66%). Generalized tonic-clonic (GTC) seizure was the most frequent type (57.5%), followed by partial seizures (28.6%). Status epilepticus was present in (10.3%) of the cases.The most common diagnosis were febrile seizure (26.7%),followed by meningitis (16.3%), encephalitis (12.9%) and epilepsy (17.3%). Presenting symptoms beside seizure were fever (82.7%), cough (27.7%), vomiting (21.4%) and diarrhea (19.8%). Loss of conscious was the presenting feature in 20 cases (6.3%).Twenty five children with seizure (7.9%) died in hospital, and higher death rate was observed among those with CNS infections.
The results of this study indicate that seizure is an important cause of hospitalization with significant mortality. Fever was the most common associate and febrile seizure, which is known to have benign prognosis, was peaked at early childhood. Other more serious problems; such as CNS infections, cerebral malaria and status epilepticus, need to be considered as they can possessa real threat for child life ormight have long-termdetrimental consequences.