Crisis Parainfecciosas: Estudio Retrospectivo Multicéntrico

Introduction: Para-infectious seizures are afebrile seizures that are associated with mild infections, and occur in children with no pre-existing neurological illness. They are still little known in our environment.Methods: A multicentre retrospective study was conducted that included patients with normal psychomotor development and had presented with one or more seizures in the context of a mild afebrile infection.Results: A total of 38 patients (47% male, 53% female) were included in the study over a period of three years (2012-2015). The mean age was 2.1 years. A previous history of febrile seizures was found in 7.9% of them. Mean number of seizures per patient was 2.2, with 57.9% of them being tonic-clonic seizures. The mean duration of seizures was 3.2 minutes. An EEG was performed during admission in 73.7% of cases. Lumbar punctures were performed in 34.2% of cases. All were normal. Neuroimaging tests were carried out in 36.9% of cases. Brain MRI was the imaging test performed in most cases (21.1%), with no any pathological findings. The most frequent infection found was acute gastroenteritis (68%), followed by upper respiratory tract infection (32%). Almost two-thirds (63.2%) of patients did not require anticonvulsant medication. Rectal diazepam was the most frequently used drug in emergencies. Intravenous medication was required by 28.9% of patients due to repeated seizures. The most frequently used drug in the non-emergency setting was valproic acid. Anticonvulsant treatment was continued after discharge in 16% of patients. Para-infectious seizures was the diagnosis in 76.3% of cases when discharged.Conclusions: Knowledge of para-infectious seizures, their clinical diagnosis and benign course is crucial, as this would avoid further testing and unnecessary treatments. (C) 2015 Asociacion Espanola de Pediatria. Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.