The relationship between iron deficiency anemia and simple febrile convulsion in children

BACKGROUND: Simple febrile convulsion is the most common disease of the nervous system in children. There are hypotheses that iron deficiency may affect febrile convulsion and the threshold of neuron excitation. AIMS: This study was conducted with the objective of finding the effects of iron deficiency anemia on simple febrile convulsion episodes. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: The study was conducted at AmirKabir Hospital of Arak Medical Sciences University, Arak, Iran. This is a case-control study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 382 children who were selected according to our inclusion and exclusion factors, were divided into two groups of case (febrile convulsion) and control (other factors causing fever) by their cause of hospitalization. After fever subsided, 5 ml blood sample was taken from each child and complete blood count and iron profile tests were performed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The results were interpreted using descriptive statistics and independent t-test. Results: The prevalence of anemia in the group with febrile convulsion was significantly less than that in the control group: 22.5% of the children in the group with febrile convulsion and 34% in the control group exhibited anemia (P < 0.001). Moreover, the group with febrile convulsion had significantly higher blood indices, such as Hb, Hct, MCV, MCH, and MCHC, compared to the control group (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Iron deficiency can prevent febrile convulsion in children and probably increases the threshold of neuron excitation in fever.