BMJ  2006;333:541 (9 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.38950.394745.68

Practice

Interactive case report

Fever of unknown origin: case progression

R Sivakumar, specialist registrar, general medicine1, S Pavulari, senior house officer, general medicine1, S Ellis, consultant physician and rheumatologist1

1 Lister Hospital, Stevenage, Hertfordshire SG1 4AB

Correspondence to: R Sivakumar sivasiva51@hotmail.com

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Last week (2 September, p 484) we presented the case of a 19 year old student who had a swinging fever of unknown origin. The differential diagnoses after initial investigations include malignancy (particularly lymphoma), sarcoidosis, connective tissue disease, vasculitis, and infective causes including tuberculosis, fungal infection, endocarditis, and HIV. She had no relevant risk factors for HIV, but sexual histories can be initially unreliable, particularly if taken in the presence of relatives. Although the initial presentation was consistent with viral illnesses such as infectious mononucleosis, they were excluded on serological tests.


Figure Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)
Fig 1 Patient's chest radiograph

 
Three weeks after admission she continued to have spiking temperatures of up to 40°C. She also described a simultaneous erythematous rash, which was not raised and was most pronounced on the dorsal aspect of her legs. She thought that the rash was similar to her previous rash but not as prominent. It was not evident . . . [Full text of this article]


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

Related Articles

Fever of unknown origin: case outcome
R Sivakumar, S Pavulari, and S Ellis
BMJ 2006 333: 691. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Fever of unknown origin: case presentation
R Sivakumar, S Pavulari, and S Ellis
BMJ 2006 333: 484. [Extract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

Next Step
John McCormack
bmj.com, 8 Sep 2006 [Full text]
History of raw seafood consumption
Petar I Ivanovski
bmj.com, 8 Sep 2006 [Full text]
PUO - Young Woman
Srinath Meadipudi
bmj.com, 8 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Agree--Treat on spec!!
Stephen R Workman
bmj.com, 8 Sep 2006 [Full text]
A generalist takes a shot at it
Ed Cooper
bmj.com, 8 Sep 2006 [Full text]
being practical
Elizabeth Howard
bmj.com, 9 Sep 2006 [Full text]
haemophagocytic syndrome
jonathan p kerr
bmj.com, 10 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Common things are common
RAGHAVA S K BHAMIDIMARRI
bmj.com, 11 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Moderate Steroids why wait
Michael L Loren
bmj.com, 13 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Sure of the diagnosis ?
Henry W Mannings
bmj.com, 13 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Pyrexia of unknown origin
Ramachandran Sivakumar, et al.
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Take another history
Stephen J Katona
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Anaplasma phagocytophilum
David Mitchell
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Lemierre syndrome
David Mitchell
bmj.com, 14 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Erythema marginatum ?
Stephen J Katona
bmj.com, 15 Sep 2006 [Full text]
C3 Nephritic Factor ?
Stephen J Katona
bmj.com, 15 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Did she go for a swim?
Ben Ridwan
bmj.com, 18 Sep 2006 [Full text]
fever of unknown origin
Raul E. Marchena
bmj.com, 19 Sep 2006 [Full text]
The patient perspective
Spencer I Ellis, et al.
bmj.com, 19 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Fever of unknown origin ......Answers to the questions asked
Dr Vinod kumar Kumar
bmj.com, 20 Sep 2006 [Full text]
Reactive hemophagocytic syndrome (RHPS)
Prasad R Koduri
bmj.com, 24 Sep 2006 [Full text]



Student BMJ

Risk of surgery for inflammatory bowel disease: record linkage studies

What can you learn from this BMJ paper? Read Leanne Tite's Paper+

www.student.bmj.com

Listen to the latest BMJ Interview