Publication:

Evaluation of neuroimaging findings in new onset afebrile seizures in children

Background New onset afebrile seizures are very common in children. They are diagnosed by neuroimaging techniques. The aim of the present study was to examine the presenting characteristics and to assess and compare the prevalence of neuroimaging and neurological abnormalities in new onset afebrile seizures in children.

Methods This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital at Chennai during the period from July 2014 to August 2016. Out of 65 patients included in the study, 58 had an MRI, 5 had a CT scan and 2 patients had a neurosonogram. All the findings were documented in the proforma and evaluated for incidence of neuroimaging abnormality in children.

Results The most common age group to be affected was the adolescent age group followed by the infantile group. The most common presentation noticed was generalized seizures 72% (47/65). Among the primary generalized seizures, GTCS 57% (27/47) was the most common. Of the 65 patients in our study, 22 had Neuroimaging abnormality and 16 had neurological abnormality. The most common abnormalities seen in various neuroimaging studies were ring enhancing lesions 10 (45%). Ring enhancing lesions were more common in the adolescent age group, while structural disorder was more common in the infantile age group.

Conclusions Neuroimaging techniques helped in finding the brain developmental abnormalities among children with afebrile seizures.