Seizures in Kids: Benign or Concerning?

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

Christopher J. Chiu, MD: Welcome back. We are The Cribsiders. Here on Medscape, we recap some of our favorite podcast episodes, in which we interview leading experts in the field to bring you clinical pearls, practice-changing knowledge, and answers to lingering questions about core topics in pediatric medicine.

Justin L. Berk, MD, MPH, MBA: Today we are recapping our podcast on pediatric seizures. Our leading specialist on this topic is Dr John Gaitanis, a neurologist and expert on seizures. We discussed diagnosis and treatment, febrile seizures, epilepsy, and even some of the underlying genetic causes of seizures. We learned a ton — not only about the basic management principles, but also about complicated cases and how to keep an eye out for them.

We talked about the simple febrile seizures that can occur in 2%-5% of all children. Simple febrile seizures are pretty common and benign in children with a normal neurologic exam. Testing (lumbar puncture, EEG, neuroimaging) and even treatment aren't necessary, according to the most recent febrile seizure guidelines.

We also talked about characterizing febrile seizures. What did you take away from that discussion?

Chiu: Simple febrile seizures are generalized, last 15 minutes or less, and occur only once within a 24-hour period.