Genetic Analysis of Febrile Convulsions: Twin and Family Studies

Abstract

Febrile convulsions (FC) have been studied from many aspects, including the genetic and the environmental [3, 5, 7–12]. Despite the intensive investigations, however, our knowledge regarding the role of inheritance remains inadequate. This discrepancy may be due to a number of factors, including definitions of FC, sampling methods, investigated areas, and ages of children investigated [9–12]. Children with FC usually have a good prognosis, and generally only severely sick children visit our clinic, reporting prolonged convulsions or many recurrences. Therefore to avoid a bias in sampling one must investigate an unselected population of children with FC, and preferably over a large area [10]. The present study concerned itself with genetic aspects of all children with FC in the geographically delimited Fuchu area of Tokyo and at our outpatient clinic.