Correlation of Serum Ferritin and Calcium Level with Febrile Seizures: A Hospital-Based Prospective Case-Control Study.

Background: Febrile seizure is one of the most common seizure disorders occurring in children. In the literature, there are contradicting results about the role of iron and calcium deficiency in febrile seizures that has a relatively higher prevalence. So, this study was performed to investigate the correlation of serum ferritin and calcium levels with febrile seizures in children. Materials and methods: This case-control study was performed on a total number of 150 children aged 6 to 60 months who were frequently admitted to Shohada-e-Kargar Hospital in Yazd, Iran, due to fever from April 2017 to November 2017. The case group consisted of 49 patients with febrile seizures and the control group included 101 febrile children without seizures. Data regarding age, sex, past medical and family history of seizures, serum ferritin, and calcium levels were collected from patient medical records and laboratory results. Results: Participants in the case and control groups had a mean age of 28.22 months and 28.16 months, respectively. Of all participants, 56% were males. Serum ferritin level was 40.61 ng/mL in the case group and 41.80 ng/mL in the control group, with no significant difference being observed between groups (P value = 0.743). Calcium levels were 9.50 mmol/L in the case group and 9.59 mmol/L in the control group, with no significant difference being observed between groups (P value = 0.564). The findings of the present research indicated that factors including age, sex, past medical and family history of seizures did not affect the mean serum levels of ferritin and calcium of the study population. Conclusions: Based on our results, no significant difference could be established between serum ferritin and calcium levels in neither the case group nor the control group, and plausibly, these elements appear to be neither a protective nor a risk factor for a febrile seizure.