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

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Abstract

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.

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Conflict of interest

Giovanni Gabutti has received grants from GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals SA, Sanofi Pasteur MSD, Novartis, Crucell/Janssen and Pfizer for taking part in advisory boards, expert meetings, being a speaker or an organizer of congresses/conferences and acting as investigator in clinical trials. For the remaining authors, none were declared. All authors have not received any honorarium, grant or other form of payment to produce this manuscript. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Giovanni Gabutti and Cecilia Trucchi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Section of Hygiene, Department of Medical Sciences, University of Ferrara, via Fossato di Mortara 64b, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Giovanni Gabutti, Parvané Kuhdari & Sara Ferioli

  2. Department of Health Sciences, University of Genoa, via A. Pastore 1, 16132, Genoa, Italy

    Cecilia Trucchi

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  1. Giovanni Gabutti
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  2. Parvané Kuhdari
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  3. Sara Ferioli
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  4. Cecilia Trucchi
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Correspondence to Giovanni Gabutti.

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Gabutti, G., Kuhdari, P., Ferioli, S. et al. Hospital admissions for seizure in Italy: a decennial retrospective analysis with a special focus on the burden in the pediatric age. Neurol Sci 36, 1667–1673 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2230-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-015-2230-1

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