title: A tertiary care center's experience with febrile seizures: evaluation of 632 cases.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this paper was to evaluate demographic and prognostic features of febrile seizures (FSs) in a tertiary center in Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study of 632 children with FS was conducted from January 1995 to January 2002 in the pediatric neurology and general pediatrics departments of Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical School. Patients data was collected and eligible patients were included in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 386 male (61.1%) and 246 female (38.9%) patients, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.57. Twenty six (4.1%) patients had prenatal, 104 (16.5%) patients had perinatal-neonatal problems. Age at first seizure was 3-72 months with an average of 20.1 months. While 193 patients (30%) were admitted with two seizures, 246 (39%) were admitted with three or more. Out of 632 patients, 501 (79.2%) had recurrences. In an average of 5.8 years (4-8.8), 30 out of 632 patients (4.7%) were diagnosed with epilepsy. First degree relative with FS, age at first FS less than 18 months, height of peak temperature (<38.5 °C), less than 1 or 3 hours between onset of fever and seizure, complex first seizure, complex FS were all related to febrile seizure recurrence in a statistically significant way. Some risk factors for subsequent epilepsy development included complex FS and less than one hour of fever before FS. No patient with FS had died.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Complex FS and less than 1 hour of fever before FS are common risk factors for both epilepsy and FS recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hüssam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Elshana
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Meral
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Özmen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey - tugceuzunhan@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Tuǧçe A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Uzunhan
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih‑Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ozan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Uzunhan
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih‑Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ünüvar
authors.affiliation: Department of General Pediatrics, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Fatih‑Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiliç
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Burak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tatli
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nur
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aydinli
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurology, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Çalişkan
mesh_terms: D017668:Age of Onset; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey