Necmi Aksaray, Emre Alhan, Derya Alabaz, Özlem Özgür Gündeşlioğlu, Emine Kocabaş, Barbaros Şahin Karagün

Fever of unknown origin: evaluation of 30 pediatric patients

Purpose: The aim of this retrospective study is toevaluate the etiology clinical and laboratory features offever of unknown origin (FUO) diagnosed in 30 pediatricpatients.Materials and Methods: The clinical data including theetiology, diagnostic approaches and clinical characteristicswere retrospectively analysed in 30 pediatric patients withFUO 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%), while18 were female (60%). The median duration of the feverwas 22.5 (3-60) days during hospital admission. The mostcommon physical findings were hepatomegaly andsplenomegaly, which were observed in 53. 3 and 40patients, respectively. The cause of the FUO was detectedto be infection in 14 patients (46.6%), connective tissuevascular diseases in 8 patients (26.7%), malignancies in 5patients (16.7%), and miscellaneous diseases in 1 patient(3.3%). In two patients (6.6%) the etiology could not beidentified. Leishmaniasis, tuberculosis and Brucellosis werethe most commonly identified infections, whereas juvenilerheumatoid arthritis and acute lymphoblastic leukemiawere the most common non-infectious causes.Conclusion: The most common cause of FUO in ourstudy was infection diseases. Connective-vascular tissuediseases and malignancies are also important causes ofFUO. In our opinion, detailed patient history, carefullyphysical examination and close clinical follow-up mayreduce the number of the invasive procedures and noninvasive tests.

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