Emergent diagnostic testing for pediatric nonfebrile seizures.

Background: Guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology recommend laboratory studies or computed tomography (CT) for children who experience a nonfebrile seizure if anything in their history suggests a clinically significant abnormality.

Objective: To ascertain if any patient or seizure characteristics are associated with a greater likelihood that laboratory studies or CT scan will yield clinically significant results.

Methods: This retrospective case series reviewed 93 children with nonfebrile seizure, who were evaluated in an urban pediatric emergency department (ED) between July 2007 and June 2011.