Clinical analysis on 146 cases of origin-unknown fever

Objective To investigate the cause of fever of unknown origin (FUO).Methods The clinical data of 146 patients with FUO admitted to the first clinical hospital of Shanxi medical university from January 2000 to december 2004 were analyzed.Results After various examinations and specific treatment the definite diagnosis was finally made in 128 cases (86.9%).Among them 88 cases (60.3%) were caused by infections.Eleven patients suffered from collagen vascular disease (CVD).8.9% (13/146) of the FUO cases were diagnosed as malignancy.Sixteen cases (11.0%) were due to other disease,and in 18 cases (12.3%) the cause was still unknown after hospitalization.Conclusion Infection is the main cause of FUO;the incidence of tuberculosis was the highest among the various infectious diseases as the cause of FUO;patients with extrapulmonary tuberculosis presented more frequently with FUO than those with intrapulmonary tuberculosis.CVD and malignancy were also major causes of FUO,and the incidence of malignancy increased with the lapse of time.