Management of prolonged fever
April 4, 2010
| Abstract Title: | Management of prolonged fever |
| Authors: | Crisan Alexandru, Jompan Afilon |
| Affiliation: | “Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad, Romania |
| Abstract text: | Since the earliest days of systematic thermometry prolonged fever illness has fascinated and generated many frustrations to clinicians and laboratory physicians. The authors present peculiarities of 57 patients with prolonged fever illness that were admitted to 2nd Clinic of Infectious Diseases from “Dr. V. Babes” Clinical Hospital of Infectious Diseases and Pneumophthisiology Timişoara between June 2007 and June 2009. We submit data about signs and symptoms associated with fever of unknown origin, dynamics of fever, different etiologies of prolonged fevers, underlying favorable host-associated conditions (immune deficiencies, comorbidities), importance of laboratory investigations and imaging studies in establishing etiologic diagnose, duration of hospitalization, management of patients. 5% of cases of prolonged fever remained without etiologic diagnose. Prolonged fever by its frequency, potential severity, multitude of etiologies that are involved, remains a diagnostic challenge and many times it imposes collaboration between different specialists. In our study percentage of infectious cause (73%) is much higher than in developed countries where prolonged fever of infectious origin represents only 27-33% of all cases, just a little above neoplasms. Tuberculosis (pulmonary, hepatic and meningeal) represents 10% of infectious investigated cases and is still an important cause of prolonged fever in Romania. Today the percentage of cases without etiology is smaller because we have better access to diagnostic technology of increased sophistication. |
| Keywords: | prolonged fever illness, etiologic spectrum, diagnose |
| Presentation type: | Oral |
| Correspondence: | no. 73 Barnutiu St., 300304, Timisoara, Romania |
| Email: | alexandrucrisan@msn.com |
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