• J J García-Peñas and R Muñoz-Orduña.
• Sección de Neurología Pediátrica, Hospital Infantil Universitario Niño Jesús, Madrid, España. jgarciape.hnjs@salud.madrid.org
• Rev Neurol. 2008 Jan 1;47 Suppl 1:S35-43.

IntroductionKnowledge of the spectrum and frequencies of pediatric neurological emergencies presenting to an emergency department is vital in optimizing the quality of care delivered locally.AimTo know the real incidence of pediatric neurological emergencies.Patients And MethodsWe present an observational study of a cohort of histories of neurological emergencies at a pediatric tertiary hospital during a period of one year.ResultsOn analysis of all emergencies (93,469 cases), 1,760 were neurological conditions. The commonest causes of consultation were acute paroxysmal episodes (48%), headache (41%) and gait disturbances (5%). Headache was the most often made diagnoses (39%), followed by acute non-epileptic paroxysmal episodes (20%) and e pileptic seizures (15%). Only 17% of patients needed hospital admission, being epilepsy the most frequent diagnoses involved (41%). The most common reasons for attending the pediatric emergency department are gastrointestinal and respiratory illnesses, neurological emergencies, and neonatal problems. Four illnesses, i.e. headaches, acute non-epileptic paroxysmal episodes, epileptic seizures and febrile convulsions, comprise nearly 85% of all the emergency visits of neurological origin.ConclusionsNeurological emergencies constitute a large percentage of pediatric emergencies. Guidelines developed for neurological emergencies should target the commonest presenting problem categories.

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