Leukocyte Count after Afebrile Seizure in Children

Background: The aim is to assess the leukocyte count in children with afebrile seizure and the relation of leukocytosis with demographic and clinical characteristics. Methods: Participants were 96 children with a complete blood count obtained within the first 6 hours after the seizure without the evidence of bacterial infection. Results: There were 47 girls (49%) and 49 boys (51%) with a median age of 123 months (range 10 to 216 months). Leukocyte count was elevated in 23 (23,59%) participants. Children with delayed psychomotor development have had more often post-convulsive leukocytosis (p 0,042). There wasn’t statistically significant correlation between elevated leukocyte count and: positive family history of epilepsy, recurrent infections in the childhood, type of seizure (generalized/partial), neurological exam after the seizure, electroencephalogram, magnetic resonance of the brain, type of epilepsy (idiopathic/symptomatic), age, gender, seizure duration, time of seizure (day/night), and the seizure appearance (the first one/recurrent). Conclusions: There is significant proportion of children with afebrile seizure having peripheral leukocytosis although majority of participants have had normal white blood count. The results of this study can reduce unnecessary diagnostic evaluation in afebrile children with leukocytosis after seizure in emergency department. The possible predictivity of demographic and clinical characteristics was not clearly confirmed.