To determine the value of a detailed family history for the assessment of the risk of recurrence of febrile seizures, 115 children who visited the emergency room of an academic children's hospital were studied prospectively. Moreover, it is still not possible to discriminate between children who will and children who will not have a recurrence. Further improvements in the ability to predict the recurrence of a febrile seizure will aid doctors in choosing the appropriate prophylactic treatment, if any.A first degree-family history positive for febrile seizures has been shown to be a major risk factor for the recurrence of a febrile seizure in several studies; other risk factors are young age at onset, multiple initial seizures, and relatively low temperature at the initial seizure.47 13The recurrence risks for febrile seizures have been reported in relation to the presence of first degree relatives (parents and siblings) affected by febrile seizures or in relation to the presence of affected relatives of any degree.3 14 15 The predictive value of the presence of affected second and third degree relatives on the recurrence risk of febrile seizures is unknown. Also, the number of a child's relatives has not so far been taken into account. In general, a child's chance of having a family history positive for febrile seizures will be proportional to the number of relatives. Thus children with larger families will be more likely to have a positive family history.'6 An incorporation of the number of relatives in the family history of febrile seizures may yield a more accurate assessment of a child's recurrence risk.We investigated the association between the recurrence of febrile seizures and the presence of affected first degree relatives and the presence of affected second (grandparents, uncles/aunts) or third degree (cousins) relatives separately. We also investigated the recurrence of febrile seizures in children in relation to the proportion of first degree relatives affected.

No predictive factors are currently available to establish patient-specific GVHD risk. A panel of six serum cytokines (TNF receptor 1, IL-2 receptor alfa (IL-2Ra), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), monocyte chemo-attractant protein-2, IL-8, IL-12p70) were monitored at established time points (days À 1, þ 1, þ 7, þ 14, þ 21, þ 28 and þ 60) in 170 paediatric hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) recipients. We found that higher concentrations of IL-2Ra on days þ 14 and þ 21 together with HGF on days þ 14 and þ 21 were significantly associated at a higher probability of both grade II-IV GVHD (on day þ 14 it was: 60% vs 28%, P ¼ 0.007) and grade III-IV (on day þ 14 it was: 40% vs 15%, P ¼ 0.001). The higher IL-8 serum concentration on day þ 28 was associated with a lower probability of chronic GVHD being 4% vs 29% (P ¼ 0.01) for patients with higher vs lower IL-8 serum concentration. These findings were confirmed when the analysis was restricted to the the matched unrelated donor group. In conclusion, even if the serum cytokine levels were related to several variables associated with HSCT, we identified two cytokines as predictors of GVHD II-IV and III-IV, translating into a higher TRM risk (17% vs 3%, P ¼ 0.004).

No abstract