Febrile Seizure Calculator
Introduction
This calculator has been designed to help healthcare professionals counsel parents
of children who have had their first febrile seizure.
By selecting whether or not specific clinical predictors are present the calculator
will work out the risk of the child having a further febrile seizure or going onto
develop epilepsy.
Full Details - Description
Febrile seizures are a common problem affecting 2 - 5 percent of children in Western
Europe or the USA.[ref 1] After a child has had their first febrile seizure parents are
naturally anxious and often want to know the risk of further febrile seizures and
the risk of their child developing epilepsy.
This calculator has been developed to help the healthcare professional provide an
accurate evidence based answer to the above questions.
Risk of Recurrence
Once a child has had a febrile seizure they are at higher risk of having another
febrile seizure compared to the background population. On average 30% of these children
will have a further febrile seizure, however the actual rate of recurrence ranges
from 15% to 65% depending on the presence or absence of the following clinical predictors:[ref 2]
1) Early age of onset (< 18 months)
2) Seizure with a lower temperature (< 40°C)
3) Family history of febrile seizures
The more clinical predictors that are present, the greater the risk of recurrence.
Risk of Epilepsy
About 2% of children who have had a febrile convulsion develop epilepsy, which is
slightly higher than the rate of 1% in the background population.[ref 1] Clinical predictors
which can be used to calculate the risk of these children developing epilepsy include:[ref 2]
1) Family history of afebrile seizures
2) Complex febrile seizure
3) Abnormal neurology prior to 1st febrile seizure
If none of these clinical predictors are present the risk of epilepsy is not increased
compared to the background population, whereas children with two or more of these
clinical predictors have a 10% risk of developing epilepsy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q Why did the disclaimer message appear this morning?
A. The disclaimer message will appear every 3 months just to remind you of the terms
and conditions of using the application.
Q. When I change the orientation from portrait to landscape how do I get the topic
text to expand. ?
A. To get the topic text to expand simply tap the screen and the text will automatically
expand or contract to fit the screen.
Support
We hope that you do not encounter any problems when running this application but
in the event of this occurring we would like you to register a support request.
To register a support request or to contact us about anything regarding the application,
please complete the product Support
Request Form.