Laboratory Evaluation of the Child With a Febrile Convulsion

The purpose of this article is to review the costs, benefits, and indications for various laboratory tests in the child who has had a febrile seizure. Recommendations for an appropriate "work-up" after a febrile convulsion have included CBC, urinalysis, determination of calcium, BUN, and electrolyte values, skull roentgenogram, EEG, lumbar puncture, and blood culture. Approximate current costs of these procedures in Los Angeles (average of two hospitals) are as follows: [See table in the PDF file] If these tests were done on the half million children in the United States with febrile seizures, the cost would be $143 million, even without considering hospitalization expense.