nt Diazepam Prophylaxis in Febrile Seizures: Long-Term Prospective Controlled Study

The efficacy of intermittent rectal diazepam prophylaxis is assessed in the prevention of febrile seizures. In a prospective randomized cohort trial, 139 children (77 girls, 62 boys) who experienced a first febrile seizure were allocated to two groups: group A, which received intermittent diazepam (n 5 68), and group B, which received no prophylaxis (n 5 71). All children had a 3-year follow-up. The inclusion criteria were no personal history of afebrile seizures, normal neurodevelopment, no previous anticonvulsant therapy, and age between 6 months and 3 years. Each group was stratified to low, intermediate, and high risk according to the available clinical data. The 36-month recurrence rates in the no-prophylaxis group were 83 % in high-risk patients, 55 % in intermediate-risk patients, and 46 % in low-risk patients. In the prophylaxis group, the recurrence rates were reduced in all risk groups: 38%, 35%, and 33%, respectively. Intermittent diazepam prophylaxis reduces the recurrence rate mainly in high-risk children provided that sufficient doses are given on time and adequately. (J Child Neurol 2006;21:1036–1040; DOI 10.2310/7010.2006.00221). epilepsy, primarily partial. During the last 20 years, many studies have argued and A cohort of 145 children with a first febrile seizure was randomly assigned in a prospective controlled trial to receive either intermittent prophylaxis Group A (prophylaxis group) was represented by 68 children and group B (controls, without prophylaxis) by 71 children. The inclusion criteria were no personal history of afebrile seizures, normal neuropsycho-motor development, no previous anticonvulsant therapy, and age rangin