Abstract: Objective To explore the levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE) of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in children with convulsion. Methods Ninety children with convulsion were enrolled. According to the frequency of convulsion attack, the children were divided into brief convulsion group 51 cases and prolonged convulsion group 39 cases, further, based on the etiology, the children were divided into viral encephalitis (VE) group, idiopathic epilepsy (EP) group, and febrile convulsion (FS) group. CSF was collected within 24-48 h convulsion attack. Twenty-three children with elective surgery were selected as a control group. CSF was collected before surgery. The NSE level of CSF were measured by ELISA method and compared among groups. Results The NSE levels of CSF in prolonged convulsion group and brief convulsion group were significantly higher than that in control group, while the NES levels of CSF in prolonged convulsion group were significantly higher than that in brief convulsion group (all P<0.05). Among the prolong convulsion group or the brief convulsion group, the VE group had the highest NSE level of CSF, which was significantly higher than EP group and FS group (all P<0.01), and the difference between EP group and FS group was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusions Convulsion contributed to higher NSE levers of CSF, especially in children with prolonged convulsion attack or with VE. The NSE level of CSF can be regarded as an early objective indicator of brain damage after convulsions.