Diseases » Febrile Seizures » Introduction

Febrile Seizures

Febrile Seizures: Introduction

There is nothing more scary than a seizure in your child. Febrile seizures occur in babies and young children and are due to fever and high temperature. Fortunately, most febrile seizures are harmless and do not cause brain damage or any serious complication. However, a child or baby that has a febrile seizure does have a serious fever and needs prompt medical advice. There is also a possibility of meningitis or other serious cause of the fever. Although the need for hospitalization is not typical, your doctor will need to treat and monitor the underlying cause of the fever, in addition to monitoring any seizures.

Symptoms of Febrile Seizures

• Seizures
• Loss of consciousness
• Shaking
• Convulsions
• Writhing limbs
• more symptoms...»

See full list of 15 symptoms of Febrile Seizures

Home Diagnostic Testing

Home medical testing related to Febrile Seizures:

• Cold & Flu: Home Testing:
  • Home Fever Tests
  • Home Ear Infection Test Kits
  • Home Flu Tests
  • Home Strep A Tests
• Nerve Neuropathy: Related Home Testing:
  • Home Diabetes Test Kits
  • Home Blood Glucose Testing Kits
• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Related Home Testing:
  • ADHD -- Home Tests
  • Drug Screening Kits
• more tests...»

Febrile Seizures: Complications

Review possible medical complications related to Febrile Seizures:

• Choking
• Epilepsy - chance of epilepsy higher in children who have serious febrile seizures.
• Brain damage - very uncommon
• more complications...»

Disease Topics Related To Febrile Seizures

Research the causes of these diseases that are similar to, or related to, Febrile Seizures:

• Generalised tonic clonic seizures
• Sodium valproate
• Tepid sponging
• Absence seizures
• Respiratory tract infections
• Epilepsy
• more related diseases...»

Medical Textbooks Online about Febrile Seizures

Book excerpts: Copyright © 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Tests for Febrile Seizures

• Body temperature
• Tests for fever
• EEG tests
• See also tests for epilepsy
• more tests...»

Read more about tests for Febrile Seizures

Wrongly Diagnosed with Febrile Seizures?

• Misdiagnosis of Febrile Seizures
• Failure to diagnose Febrile Seizures
• Hidden causes of Febrile Seizures (possibly wrongly diagnosed)
• Undiagnosed: Febrile Seizures

Febrile Seizures: Self Assessment Tools

• Stroke -- Self Assessment Tools
• more tools...»

Febrile Seizures: Medical Mistakes

• Asthma -- Health Mistakes
• Allergies -- Health Mistakes
• more mistakes...»

Febrile Seizures: Marketplace Products, Discounts & Offers

Products, offers and promotion categories available for Febrile Seizures:

• Stroke
• Brain
• more product offers...»

Febrile Seizures: Undiagnosed Conditions

Commonly undiagnosed diseases in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Undiagnosed:
  • Adult ADHD -- Undiagnosed - ADHD can be undiagnosed in adults.
  • ADHD -- Undiagnosed
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Undiagnosed
  • Migraine -- Undiagnosed
  • Concentration Disorders -- Undiagnosed
  • Stroke -- Undiagnosed
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Undiagnosed
  • Schizophrenia -- Undiagnosed
  • Epilepsy -- Undiagnosed
• more undiagnosed conditions...»

Misdiagnosis and Febrile Seizures

Undiagnosed stroke leads to misdiagnosed aphasia: BBC News UK reported on a man who had been institutionalized and treated for mental illness because he suffered...read more »

Sinusitis is overdiagnosed: There is a tendency to give a diagnosis of sinusitis, when the condition is really a harmless complication of another...read more »

Whooping cough often undiagnosed: Although most children in the Western world have been immunized against whooping cough (also called "pertussis"), this protection wears off after about 15 years. Thus, any...read more »

Dementia may be a drug interaction: A common scenario in aged care is for a patient to show mental decline to dementia. Whereas this can, of course, occur due to various medical...read more »

Mild traumatic brain injury often remains undiagnosed: Although the symptoms of severe brain injury are hard to miss, it is less clear for milder injuries, or even those causing a mild ...read more »

MTBI misdiagnosed as balance problem: When a person has symptoms such as vertigo or dizziness, a diagnosis of brain injury may go overlooked. This is particularly true of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI), for which the symptoms...read more »

Brain pressure condition often misdiagnosed as dementia: A condition that results from an excessive pressure of CSF within the brain is often misdiagnosed. It may be misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease or dementia (such as Alzheimer's...read more »

Post-concussive brain injury often misdiagnosed: A study found that soldiers who had suffered a concussive injury in battle often were misdiagnosed on their return. A variety of symptoms can...read more »

Children with migraine often misdiagnosed: A migraine often fails to be correctly diagnosed in pediatric patients. These patients are not the typical migraine sufferers, but migraines can also occur in children. See ...read more »

Vitamin B12 deficiency under-diagnosed: The condition of Vitamin B12 deficiency is a possible misdiagnosis of various conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (see symptoms of multiple...read more »

Read more about Misdiagnosis and Febrile Seizures

Febrile Seizures: Research Doctors & Specialists

Research related physicians and medical specialists:

• Nerve Specialists:
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine
  • Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists)
  • Pediatric Neurology (Child Brain Specialist)
  • Spinal Cord Injury Medicine
• Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists:
  • Otolaryngology (Ear, Nose & Throat)
  • Pediatric Otolaryngology (Child Ear, Nose & Throat Specialist)
  • Otology / Neurotology (Ear/Hearing Specialists)
  • Plastic Surgery within the Head & Neck
• Neurology (Brain/CNS Specialists):
  • Pediatric Neurosurgery (Child Neurosurgeon)
  • Clinical Neurophysiology
  • Neurodevelopment Disabilities
  • Neurosurgery (Brain Surgery)
  • Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine (Nerve/Muscle/Bone Specialists)
  • Neuroradiology
  • Vascular Neurology
  • Neuropathology
• Stroke & Vascular Specialists:
• more specialists...»

Other doctor, physician and specialist research services:

• Rate Your Doctor Online
• Research Your Doctor Online
• Review Patient Surveys About Your Doctor
• Research local specialists including ratings, affiliations, and sanctions.

Febrile Seizures: Rare Types

Rare types of diseases and disorders in related medical categories:

• Brain & Neurological Disorders: Rare Types:
  • Adult ADHD -- Rare Types
  • ADHD -- Rare Types
  • Alzheimer Disease -- Rare Types
  • Migraine -- Rare Types
  • Concentration Disorders -- Rare Types
  • Stroke -- Rare Types
  • Bipolar Disorder -- Rare Types
  • Schizophrenia -- Rare Types
  • Epilepsy -- Rare Types
• more rare diseases...»

Causes of Febrile Seizures

• Fever
• Meningitis
• more causes...»

Read more about causes of Febrile Seizures

More information about causes of Febrile Seizures:

• Underlying causes of Febrile Seizures
• Febrile Seizures as a complication caused by other conditions
• Febrile Seizures as a symptom

Treatments for Febrile Seizures

• What to do during a seizure:
  • Move child to a safe surface - e.g. the floor
  • Place child on side or stomach - to avoid choking
  • Remove objects from mouth - if this is possible.
  • Avoid placing anything in mouth
• more treatments...»

See full list of 9 treatments for Febrile Seizures

Latest Treatments for Febrile Seizures

• Diazepam
• Phenobarbital
• Phenytoin
• Carbamazepine
• more treatments...»

Read more about the latest treatments for Febrile Seizures

News Archives for Febrile Seizures

Medical news articles related to Febrile Seizures include:

• Death From Febrile Seizure Rare in Children
• Experts Issue Guidelines on Diagnosing Seizure
• Health Tip: If You Have Seizures
• more health news...»

Source: HealthDay News

Evidence Based Medicine Research for Febrile Seizures

Medical research articles related to Febrile Seizures include:

• In the past every child with a first febrile convulsion was admitted but now paediatricians seem less keen to admit. Are there any guidelines or protocols on when to admit? Is it age related?
• Febrile seizures
• Febrile seizures
• Death in children with febrile seizures: a population-based cohort study.
• Caring for children with fever - RCN good practice guidance for nurses working with infants children and young people
• Amantadine and rimantadine for influenza A in children and the elderly
• more research...»

Click here to find more evidence-based articles on the TRIP Database

Videos for Febrile Seizures

See full list of 18 related videos

Patient Surveys for Febrile Seizures

• Patient Profile Survey
  Take Survey  View Results
• Survey about the symptoms of your Febrile Seizures
  Take Survey  View Results

Prognosis for Febrile Seizures

Prognosis for Febrile Seizures: Good. Most febrile seizures are harmless. Brain damage or choking is rare. Underlying cause of the fever needs treatment. Children usually outgrow these seizures.

More about prognosis of Febrile Seizures

Reseach about Febrile Seizures

Visit our research pages for current research about Febrile Seizures treatments.

Febrile Seizures: Broader Related Topics

• Muscle conditions
• Brain conditions
• Convulsions
• more types...»

Types of Febrile Seizures

Stories from Users Related to Febrile Seizures

• Wife has seizure like symptoms, but no help
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• unexplained seizure-like symptoms
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User Interactive Forums

Read about other experiences, ask a question about Febrile Seizures, or answer someone else's question, on our message boards:

• I can not get a diagnosis. Please help.
• Tell us your medical story.
• Share your misdiagnosis story.
• What is the best treatment for this?
• See all the forums.

Article Excerpts about Febrile Seizures

Febrile seizures are convulsions brought on by a fever in infants or small children. During a febrile seizure, a child often loses consciousness and shakes, moving limbs on both sides of the body. Less commonly, the child becomes rigid or has twitches in only a portion of the body. Most febrile seizures last a minute or two; some can be as brief as a few seconds, while others last for more than 15 minutes. (Source: excerpt from NINDS Febrile Seizures Information Page: NINDS)

Definitions of Febrile Seizures:

Seizures that occur during a febrile episode. It is a common condition, affecting 2-5% of children aged 3 months to five years. An autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance has been identified in some families. The majority are simple febrile seizures (generally defined as generalized onset, single seizures with a duration of less than 30 minutes). Complex febrile seizures are characterized by focal onset, duration greater than 30 minutes, and/or more than one seizure in a 24 hour period. The likelihood of developing epilepsy (i.e., a nonfebrile seizure disorder) following simple febrile seizures is low. Complex febrile seizures are associated with a moderately increased incidence of epilepsy. (From Menkes, Textbook of Child Neurology, 5th ed, p784) - (Source - Diseases Database)

 » Next page: What is Febrile Seizures?

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