Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary of acronyms
- 1 Fever – definition, usefulness, ubiquity
- 2 Thermoregulation – an outline
- 3 The nature of pyrogens, their origins and mode of release
- 4 The loci of action of endogenous mediators of fever
- 5 Beyond the loci of action of circulating pyrogens: mediators and mechanisms
- 6 The role of the cerebral cortex, the limbic system, peripheral nervous system and spinal cord, and induced changes in intracranial pressure
- 7 Antipyresis
- 8 Febrile convulsions in children and a possible role for vasopressin
- 9 A synthesis, predictions and speculations from my armchair
- Appendix 1 Anatomical considerations
- References
- Index
8 - Febrile convulsions in children and a possible role for vasopressin
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Glossary of acronyms
- 1 Fever – definition, usefulness, ubiquity
- 2 Thermoregulation – an outline
- 3 The nature of pyrogens, their origins and mode of release
- 4 The loci of action of endogenous mediators of fever
- 5 Beyond the loci of action of circulating pyrogens: mediators and mechanisms
- 6 The role of the cerebral cortex, the limbic system, peripheral nervous system and spinal cord, and induced changes in intracranial pressure
- 7 Antipyresis
- 8 Febrile convulsions in children and a possible role for vasopressin
- 9 A synthesis, predictions and speculations from my armchair
- Appendix 1 Anatomical considerations
- References
- Index
Summary
Fever and convulsions in infancy
A significant number of little children experience convulsive activity during episodes of infective and other fevers. Lorin (1982) suggests that 2–4% of all children have at least one fever-related seizure by the age of 5–7 years. Others (e.g. Miller et al., 1960), have given a figure of 33/1000, or 3.3%, during the first five years of life. American studies tend to report a slightly higher incidence. While there is still some argument on the subject it seems likely that there is a genetic factor, a specific genetic trait transmitted by a low penetrance single dominant gene, in the predisposition to febrile convulsions in many cases (for review see Lennox-Buchtal, 1976). The distribution of the temperatures at which convulsions occur was studied by Herlitz (1941), and it was slightly skewed from a Gaussian distribution with a peak incidence at 39.5–40.5 °C. This distribution is shown in Fig. 8.1. Some children convulse in response to small increases in body temperature in mild infections and these seizures can be severe. There may be a relationship between the rate of body temperature rise and the development of seizures. There is little evidence concerning a possible mechanism for the triggering of febrile convulsions in children, and the animal models, which are few, do not include spontaneous convulsions in response to infectious fevers and are thus not entirely satisfactory.
There may be serious sequelae to febrile convulsions though, fortunately, most single or even double episodes have a benign long-term outcome.
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- Fever and AntipyresisThe Role of the Nervous System, pp. 127 - 132Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1995