Context: Febrile convulsion is one of the most important types of convulsions
in children. Iron and zinc are important trace elements that affect some enzymes
in central nervous system, and their deficiencies could disturb the inhibitory
mechanisms in the brain, thus producing convulsions. Aim: To evaluate the
relation between iron deficiency, zinc deficiency, and febrile convulsions. Settings
and Design: A cross-sectional study was carried out. Subjects and Methods: The
study included 100 children of the pediatric hospital in Assiut University, Assiut,
Egypt; 50 children with febrile convulsions as the study group and 50 febrile
children without convulsions as the control group. Statistical Analysis: The
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20, was used
for statistical analysis. Results: The mean value of hemoglobin, mean corpuscular
volume, mean corpuscular hemoglobin and mean corpuscular hemoglobin
concentration iron, and ferritin were significantly lower in cases than that in the
control group. Significantly, zinc level was lower in 68% of cases and 36% of
control children. Moreover, the mean value of zinc was significantly lower in
cases than that in the control group. Conclusion: Lower levels of iron and zinc
seem to be predisposing factors for developing febrile convulsions