European Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine

Introduction: Seizures are one of the most common medical problems affecting children, and epilepsy is the most common chronic neurological condition in children. Materials and Methods: This was a hospital based retrospective study carried out in the data retrieved from the records maintained in the Department of Pediatrics, Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital over a period of 1 year. Variables collected were demographics, clinical presentations, laboratory tests, brain imaging studies, electroencephalography, diagnosis and hospital course. Results: The male–female ratio was 0.8. Mean age was 5.4. The most common causes of seizures were acute symptomatic. Most frequent coexistent diagnosis was infectious diseases, and 53.3% had recurrent seizures. Medications were administered to 51.1% of the patients before admission. Seizures were focal in 21 (46.7%), generalized in 11 (24.4%) and 13 (28.9%) had status epilepticus. Intravenous midazolam was first-line therapy in 48.9%. Acute symptomatic seizures were usually new-onset, and duration was shorter. Epileptic seizures tended to be recurrent and were likely to progress to status epilepticus. However, type of seizures did not change severity of the disease. Also, laboratory test results, medications administered before admission, requirement and duration of ventilation, mortality and length of stay were not significant between epileptic/acute symptomatic patients. Conclusion: Seizures in critically ill children, which may evolve into status epilepticus, is an important condition that requires attention regardless of cause. Intensified educational programs for PICU physicians and international guidelines are necessary for a more efficient approach to children with seizures