Hospital admissions for seizure in Italy: a decennial retrospective analysis with a special focus on the burden in the pediatric age.

The aim of the study was to analyze the incidence of hospitalizations for different types of convulsions in Italy during the years 2001-2010, especially in the pediatric age, with a focus on febrile seizures. National hospital discharge records of admissions for any type of convulsion from 2001 to 2010 were analyzed. The incidence rates were calculated considering the pediatric resident population estimated by the Italian Institute of Statistics in the studied years. 675,189 Hospital discharge records were analyzed, 256,126 of which had at least one specific diagnosis code for convulsion. 77 % of seizures were concentrated in the age group 0-3 years (618/100,000 inhabitants). The admission regimen was mainly ordinary (92 %). 97.6 % of admissions were <7 days and 91 % of hospital discharges were ordinary discharges to home. The percentage distribution of seizures showed a constant trend over the considered period. The code "febrile seizures" represented 71.9 % of all seizures in the pediatric population. 94.5 % was concentrated in children aged 0-5 years. The obtained data could be useful to put into the right perspective issues arising from the reports of febrile seizures following the administration of pediatric vaccines.