[Febrile seizures: is EEG useful?].

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical relevance of electroencephalograms (EEG) with generalized spike-wave (S-W) in pediatric patients, especially in children with febrile seizures.

Patients And Methods: One hundred and seventy pediatric patients with S-W were found from a register of 39,322 consecutive EEGs performed in an EEG laboratory dedicated to general clinical practice. Patients that only suffered febrile seizures were not considered epileptic.

Results: Of the 170 patients, 154 (90.6%) were epileptic and 16 (9.4%) were not. Mean follow-up was 4.5 years. Twelve of the 16 non-epileptic children with S-W suffered febrile seizures.

Conclusions: The presence of S-W in EEGs is uncommon. Almost 10% of the children with S-W were not epileptic patients and none of them suffered from epilepsy during the follow-up period. Performance of an EEG on a child without epilepsy, especially those with febrile seizures, can be a factor of confusion.