Nedeni bilinmeyen ateş: 30 çocuk hastanın değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate the etiology clinical and laboratory features of fever of unknown origin (FUO) diagnosed in 30 pediatric patients. Materials and Methods: The clinical data including the etiology, diagnostic approaches and clinical characteristics were retrospectively analysed in 30 pediatric patients with FUO who presented to our clinic in oneyear period. Results: The median age of the patients was 63 (6-192) months. Among the patients, 12 were male (40%), while 18 were female (60%). The median duration of the fever was 22.5 (3-60) days during hospital admission. The most common physical findings were hepatomegaly and splenomegaly, which were observed in 53. 3 and 40 patients, respectively. The cause of the FUO was detected to be infection in 14 patients (46.6%), connective tissuevascular diseases in 8 patients (26.7%), malignancies in 5 patients (16.7%), and miscellaneous diseases in 1 patient (3.3%). In two patients (6.6%) the etiology could not be identified. Leishmaniasis, tuberculosis and Brucellosis were the most commonly identified infections, whereas juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and acute lymphoblastic leukemia were the most common non-infectious causes. Conclusion: The most common cause of FUO in our study was infection diseases. Connective-vascular tissue diseases and malignancies are also important causes of FUO. In our opinion, detailed patient history, carefully physical examination and close clinical follow-up may reduce the number of the invasive procedures and noninvasive tests.