Relapsing polychondritis is a rare autoimmune disease of unknown etiology with episodic but potentially progressive inflammatory manifestations. Auricular, articular and nasal manifestations are the most frequent disturbances. Fever is one of the manifestations of this disease but it rarely appears as an initial presentation. In this situation, the diagnosis is delayed until other manifestations are obvious. We report a case of relapsing polychondritis, which was presented as fever of unknown origin. Ten months after the onset of fever, auricular chondritis appeared and gave us the key to diagnosis.
Autoimmune Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Polychondritis, Relapsing*

Extra-nodal malignant lymphoma is often characterized by a lack of typical symptoms and positive results of auxiliary examinations, which make diagnosis difficult. In some cases, fever can be the only clinical manifestation. For the lymphoma patients presenting with persistent fever with a duration over 3 weeks, characteristics of fever including time of fever attack, fever type and effects of drugs may have significant value in the diagnosis, especially in the early stage of the disease or in rare cases.
Fever of Unknown Origin ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; diagnosis ; Muscles ; pathology

Takayasu arteritis is a chronic vasculitis involving the large vessels. At diagnosis, ischemic symptom are usually present in the affected vessels. However, fever of unknown origin (FUO) is rare as an initial presentation and renders the condition difficult to diagnose. In this case report, we describe a patient who presented with a fever of unknown origin. A 68-year-old female was diagnosed with Takayasu arteritis after fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron-emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) was performed at the prepulseless stage. FDG PET-CT can assist in the early diagnosis of Takayasu arteritis patients with FUO and can improve the prognosis of such patients.
Aged ; Diagnosis* ; Early Diagnosis ; Female ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Prognosis ; Takayasu Arteritis* ; Vasculitis

A 37 year-old-woman was admitted to the hospital because of 15 days' duration of continuous fever. Routine studies for detection of fever foci were negative. Imaging studies revealed giant hemangioma of the liver with central thrombosis. The fever persisted for a period of 4 weeks, and subsided after conservative management. We report a case of hepatic hemangioma presenting with fever of unknown origin. The condition is very rare, but should be regarded as one of the causes of fever of unknown origin.
Adult ; Female ; Fever of Unknown Origin/*etiology ; Hemangioma/complications/*diagnosis ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms/complications/*diagnosis

Female ; Fever of Unknown Origin ; diagnosis ; etiology ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Spinal Cord Diseases ; complications ; diagnosis

Acute hematogenous osteomyelitis of the acetabulum is not a common disease with similar clinical symptoms and hematological findings to those of pyogenic arthritis of the hip joint. This symptom similarity might lead to a delayed diagnosis of the disease, and even to unnecessary surgery. We report two cases of acute hematogenous osteomyelitis of the acetabulum. One was a 13-year-old boy with non-specific radiological findings of the hip joint, who was initially diagnosed with fever of unknown origin. The other was an 11-year-old boy with hip joint pain and a recent history of minor trauma, which lead to a delayed diagnosis.
Acetabulum ; Adolescent ; Arthritis ; Child ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Fever of Unknown Origin ; Hip Joint ; Humans ; Osteomyelitis ; Unnecessary Procedures

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the most common Mendelian autoinflammatory disease, characterized by uncontrolled activation of the innate immune system that manifests as recurrent brief fever and polyserositis (e.g., peritonitis, pleuritic, and arthritis). FMF is caused by autosomal recessive mutations of the Mediterranean fever gene, MEFV which encodes the pyrin protein. Although FMF predominantly affects people from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern ethnic origins, 3 cases of FMF have been reported in Korea since 2012. We report another case of FMF in Korea in which the patient presented with a month-long fever without serositis. After treatment with colchicine was initiated, the patient’s symptoms quickly subsided. The response to colchicine was helpful for diagnosis. We compare the FMF genotypes in Korea with in other countries. Studying FMF cases in Korea will help establish the best MEFV exons to use for screening and diagnosis of Korean FMF.
Colchicine ; Diagnosis ; Exons ; Familial Mediterranean Fever* ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Genotype ; Humans ; Immune System ; Korea* ; Mass Screening ; Peritonitis ; Serositis

BACKGROUND: Due to advances in various diagnostic methods, recent studies reported changes in the pattern of etiology of fever of unknown origin (FUO). To identify the current pattern of the causes of FUO, we analyzed the etiology of recently diagnosed FUO at a university hospital in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 69 cases that fulfilled the criteria of classic FUO and retrospectively analyzed the etiology and decisive methods of diagnosis. RESULTS: The etioloies of FUO were infectious disease, non-infectious inflammatory disease, malignancy and miscellaneous cases in 22 (31.9%), 8 (11.6%), 4 (2.3%) and 21 (30.4%) patients, respectively. In 15 (21.7%) cases the cause could not be identified. Among infectious diseases, tuberculosis and suspected typhoid fever were the most common causes of infection (8 case, 11.7%) with tuberculosis being the most common confirmed infection. Adult onset Still's disease (13 cases, 4.4%) and drug-related fever (13 cases, 18.8%) were the most common cause of non-infectious inflammatory disease and miscellaneous causes, respectively. Decisive methods of final diagnosis were by observation of clinical course in 35 (64.8%), radiologic examination in 10 (18.5%), serologic or biochemical test in 5 (9.3%) and tissue biopsy in 4 (7.4%); none were diagnosed by culture. CONCLUSION: Infection remains the most common etiology of classic FUO in Korea and observing the clinical course is the most commonly used method for decisive diagnosis and its importance should be emphasized in approaching patients with FUO.
Adult* ; Biopsy ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Retrospective Studies ; Still's Disease, Adult-Onset ; Tuberculosis ; Typhoid Fever

BACKGROUND: Due to advances in various diagnostic methods, recent studies reported changes in the pattern of etiology of fever of unknown origin (FUO). To identify the current pattern of the causes of FUO, we analyzed the etiology of recently diagnosed FUO at a university hospital in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 69 cases that fulfilled the criteria of classic FUO and retrospectively analyzed the etiology and decisive methods of diagnosis. RESULTS: The etioloies of FUO were infectious disease, non-infectious inflammatory disease, malignancy and miscellaneous cases in 22 (31.9%), 8 (11.6%), 4 (2.3%) and 21 (30.4%) patients, respectively. In 15 (21.7%) cases the cause could not be identified. Among infectious diseases, tuberculosis and suspected typhoid fever were the most common causes of infection (8 case, 11.7%) with tuberculosis being the most common confirmed infection. Adult onset Still's disease (13 cases, 4.4%) and drug-related fever (13 cases, 18.8%) were the most common cause of non-infectious inflammatory disease and miscellaneous causes, respectively. Decisive methods of final diagnosis were by observation of clinical course in 35 (64.8%), radiologic examination in 10 (18.5%), serologic or biochemical test in 5 (9.3%) and tissue biopsy in 4 (7.4%); none were diagnosed by culture. CONCLUSION: Infection remains the most common etiology of classic FUO in Korea and observing the clinical course is the most commonly used method for decisive diagnosis and its importance should be emphasized in approaching patients with FUO.
Adult* ; Biopsy ; Communicable Diseases ; Diagnosis ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Retrospective Studies ; Still's Disease, Adult-Onset ; Tuberculosis ; Typhoid Fever

BACKGROUND: Examination of peripheral blood smear (PBS) is the gold standard for the diagnosis of malaria; however, its diagnostic utility will be dependent on the examiner's microscopic experience, the quality of the smear, and the degree of parasitemia. Therefore, it is essential to have available a rapid and simple test that is as sensitive and specific as PBS, at a small-middle range medical center, a health care center, and a military hospital in a malaria endemic area. METHODS: Malaria antigen and antibody tests were performed on 120 febrile patients who were requested for complete blood count (CBC) and PBS at two military hospitals from May 2004 to August 2005. RESULTS: Of the 45 patients who were diagnosed with malaria by examination of peripheral blood smears, 42 were positive on both malaria antigen and antibody tests, and 2 were positive on either antigen or antibody test. Only 1 patient was negative on the both test. Furthermore, all 75 patients with negative microscopic examinations also had negative malaria antigen and antibody tests. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show that a rapid differential diagnosis of malaria can be made by performing malaria antigen and antibody tests on febrile patients at hospitals in malaria endemic areas. Moreover, the test is simple and convenient enough to be performed without any special equipment or experience.
Blood Cell Count ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential* ; Fever of Unknown Origin* ; Fever* ; Hospitals, Military ; Humans ; Malaria* ; Malaria, Vivax* ; Parasitemia