Serum neurofilament concentrations in children with prolonged febrile seizures

ObjectiveNeurofilament (NF) is a major cytoskeletal protein of neurons. Elevation of serum NF concentration suggests neuronal injury, especially damage to axons. We assessed neuronal damage in febrile seizure (FS) by using NF.MethodsWe used enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure serum levels of the phosphorylated form of NF-heavy chain (pNF-H) in 42 children with FS and 28 controls.ResultsSerum pNF-H levels in children with prolonged febrile seizure (PFS) (n = 29) were significantly higher than those in the controls (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in serum pNF-H levels between children with simple febrile seizure (n = 9) and the controls. There was a significant correlation between seizure duration and serum pNF-H levels during the first week in children with FS (p = 0.022, r = 0.37).ConclusionOur results suggest that PFS could lead to some degree of neuronal damage even in the absence of abnormal clinical neurological findings during the short-term follow up period.