Comparison of blood lead levels in 1-7 year old children with and without seizure

OBJECTIVE: Lead is a nonessential metal and is not a natural constituent in humans. Lead is very toxic for children, especially to the central nervous system. We studied and compared blood lead levels in children aged 1-7 years old with and without convulsions.

METHODS: In this study we randomly measured blood lead levels in 206 children referred to Imam Reza Hospital, Pediatric Emergency Ward and Outpatient Clinic, Mashad, Iran from December 2001 to June 2003. There were 95 children with convulsions and 111 without convulsions.

RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the mean value of age, place of residence and economic status between the 2 groups (P values were 0.20 for age, 0.14 for place of residence and 0.76 for economic status). The mean blood lead level +/- SD in the convulsive group was 126.53 +/- 35.91 ug/lit and in the non-convulsive group was 118.03 +/- 32.10 ug/lit (p = 0.70).

CONCLUSION: This study showed that the blood lead levels in convulsive patients is not statistically significant compared to the non-convulsive group and routine measurement is not advised.