The prophylaxis of febrile convulsions in childhood: secular trends in the last decade (2007-2008 versus 2017-2018)

INTRODUCTION: This study aims to analyze the trends in the prophylaxis of febrile convulsions (FC) in childhood by comparing two cohorts in the last decade (2007-2008 versus 2017-2018).
METHODS: The cohort consisted of 272 children with FC who were followed up during the 2007-2008 (n=105) and 2017-2018 (n=167) periods in XXX Children’s Hospital. The following clinical parameters were analyzed: demographic data, FC types, prophylaxis type, selected antiseizure medications, recurrence risk factors, and EEG characteristics
RESULTS: We defined two secular trends for the prophylaxis of FC in children in the last decade: (1) a reduced rate of FC prophylaxis (22.1%) in the period of 2017-2018 compared with a rate of 63.8% in 2007-2008, p<0.01, (2) no impact of recurrence risk factors for initiation of prophylaxis for complex FC in the last decade (p=0.028). The mean number of previous seizures at the initiation of the antiseizure medication (ASM) prophylaxis increased from 2.8±1.13 to 3.4±2 for simple FC and from 1.9±0.24 to 3.1±0.31 for complex FC (p<0.01) in the period of 2017-2018.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Prophylaxis rates were defined to be lower in recent decades in children with FC. There was no impact of recurrence risk factors for initiation of prophylaxis in children with simple and complex FC.