::INDO AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES::

CODEN : IAJPBB
issn 2349-7750

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TITLE:

INCIDENCE OF MENINGITIS IN PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH FEBRILE SEIZURES

AUTHORS:

Dr. Amr Elsayed Mohamed Eldardear, Abdullah Mohammed D Alharbi, Faris Abdulmuti Dhaher Alhejaili, Feras Saleh S Alrehaili, Khaled Taleb Ahmed Mohammed, Abdulmohsen Khalid Abdullah Binladin, Meshal Khaled Aloufi

ABSTRACT:

Introduction: Febrile seizures are very commonly encountered in the setting of pediatric emergency department; it represents 72.2% of seizures presenting to the pediatric emergency department in Saudi Arabia and affects about 3-8% of children. Febrile seizures are usually benign and treated conservatively. This is in contrast to bacterial meningitis, which carries a fatality rate of 14.4%. Meningitis presents with seizures in 23% of cases. Differentiation between febrile seizures and meningitis is therefore of utmost importance to avoid poor outcomes. On the other hand, this may cause many patients with febrile seizure to get exposed to unnecessary invasive testing. This study tries to define the incidence of meningitis in patients with febrile seizures, and the proportion of these patients who undergo invasive lumbar puncture. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted at the Maternity and Children's Hospital in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Covering all patients presenting with febrile seizures in the period between January 2015 and June 2019. Patents' data was gathered from the hospital database and files. Descriptive analysis was performed using SPSS. Results: A total of 1375 patients were studied, with a male-to-female ratio of 1.44:1. The median age of the sample was 24 months (interquartile range: 13 - 42). lumbar puncture was done for 108 (7.67%) of them. Only 9 patients (8.3%) had meningitis, while the other 99 (91.7 %) had no meningitis. Conclusion: febrile seizures is a common disease among children. Distinction between febrile seizures and meningitis is paramount to avoid poor outcomes. Bacterial meningitis is rare among patients with febrile seizures. Clinical judgement remains the cornerstone in deciding which patients should undergo invasive testing. Key words: Febrile seizures, Meningitis, Lumber puncture.