RETROSPECTIVE
STUDY OF 744 CHILDREN WITH FEVER OF UNKNOWN ORIGIN
Xu Baoping, Shen KL, Jiang ZF, Yao DX
Beijing Children’ s Hospital, Beijing, China
Objective: To
investigate the etiology，diagnostic
methods and procedure of fever
of unknown origin(FUO) in children.
Methods: Retrospective
study of the medical records.
Results: ⑴In younger than 3-year group, infections were found in 52.1%
with 21.9% of respiratory tract infections. Congenital diseases and
neoplasm were found in 14.6% and 9.4%, respectively. ⑵In 3 to 7-year group, infections were found in 59.9% with
19.8% of respiratory tract infections. Collagen vascular diseases and
neoplasm were found in 14.6% and 5.7%, separately. ⑶In older than 7-year group, infections were found in 66.9%
with 22.4% of respiratory tract infections. Collagen vascular diseases and
neoplasm were found in 15.1% and 3.3%, respectively. History, physical
examination and routine laboratory studies led to a final diagnosis in 39.9%. Ultrasonography; CT scan;
bone marrow examination and biopsy contributed to the diagnosis in 3.4%,
3.7%, 8.5% and 71.1% of the cases respectively.
Conclusions: Infections,
congenital disease and neoplasm were the three major causes of FUO with the
age younger than 3. Infections, collagen vascular disease and neoplasm were
the three major causes of FUO with the age older than 3. Respiratory tract
infection was the leading cause in each group. A thorough history of
disease, full physical examination and routine laboratory studies were very
important to diagnose the etiology of FUO. The use of non-invasive imaging
techniques and invasive methods reasonably may be helpful.