[The developmental prognosis of children with 5-day seizures]

We report on the course of development of 23 children with fifth-day fits during the years 1980 to 1985. The age of examination was 4.6 years on average. 21 cases had a neurodevelopmental examination including an EEG-recording. In two further cases developmental data could be obtained by an interview by phone. We obtained the following results: 2 children developed epilepsy. Normal development was seen in 9 children. The developmental abnormalities became manifest in children older than 30 months. There is no homogeneous profile of abnormalities of development. Therefore we suggest to perform differentiated and multidisciplinary investigations in the follow up of children with fifth day fits. Similar to the observations in Australia and Italy, we could not see any more case of fifth-day fit since 1985.