Association between platelet indices and febrile seizures in children

Abstract

Purpose: Febrile seizures (FS) are the most common type of seizures in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between platelet indices and FS in children.

Materials and Methods: This prospective study included 40 children who presented with FS and 30 controls who presented with febrile illnesses without seizures. Complete blood counts, including platelet count (PC), mean platelet volume (MPV), and platelet distribution width (PDW) from both groups within 1 hour of FS and 1 month later were obtained.

Results: We found that the MPV and PDW within 1 hour of seizure in children with complex FS group was higher than simple FS group while there was no significant difference in MPV and PDW between patients in the simple and complex FS groups at 1 month. The mean PC was not significantly different between simple and complex FS groups; but, we found that the mean PC in the complex FS group was slightly lower than simple FS group. There was a moderate significant positive correlation between MPV and PDW in children with FS while there was a moderate significant negative correlation between PC and MPV, PDW for FS.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the increasing platelet turnover in complex FS group causes a slightly decrease in the PC, an significantly increase of MPV and PDW values indicating that these parameters may play an important role in predicting the severity of FS in children at diagnosis.