Febrile convulsions
A seizure occurring with fever in a young child without evidence of CNS infection or another acute cause; most are brief and self-limiting, but the priority is seizure safety, assessment of the febrile illness and recognition of meningitis, prolonged, focal or recurrent seizures.
Definition
A febrile convulsion is a seizure occurring in a young child during a febrile illness without evidence of central nervous system infection, acute metabolic disturbance or another acute symptomatic cause. A simple febrile seizure is usually generalised, brief and non-recurrent within 24 hours.
First principles
A febrile seizure is a clinical event, not epilepsy
Febrile seizures usually occur between 6 months and 5 or 6 years during a febrile illness and are not, by themselves, epilepsy. The child should return to their neurological baseline after a brief seizure; persistent abnormal neurology, an unprovoked event or an atypical age requires a different diagnostic pathway.
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