Table 2.
Characteristics of patients with fever of unknown origin by types of final diagnosis
| Variables* | Final diagnosis | ||||||
| Total | Infection† | Malignancy† | NIID† | Other† | Unknown† | ||
| Comorbidity | Yes | 88 | 16 (18.2%) | 17 (19.3%) | 26 (29.5%) | 10 (11.4%) | 19 (21.6%) |
| No | 52 | 8 (15.4%) | 5 (9.6%) | 21 (40.4%) | 7 (13.5%) | 11 (21.2%) | |
| Subjective symptoms | |||||||
| Headache | Yes | 23 | 3 (13.0%) | 1 (4.3%) | 9 (39.1%) | 4 (17.4%) | 6 (26.1%) |
| No | 116 | 20 (17.2%) | 21 (18.1%) | 39 (33.6%) | 12 (10.3%) | 24 (20.7%) | |
| Chest pain | Yes | 3 | 1 (33.3%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (33.3%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (33.3%) |
| No | 136 | 22 (16.2%) | 22 (16.2%) | 46 (33.8%) | 17 (12.5%) | 29 (21.3%) | |
| Respiratory symptoms | Yes | 24 | 8 (33.3%) | 5 (20.8%) | 2 (8.3%) | 4 (16.7%) | 5 (20.7%) |
| No | 116 | 16 (13.8%) | 17 (14.7%) | 46 (39.7%) | 13 (11.2%) | 24 (21.6%) | |
| Gastrointestinal symptoms | Yes | 21 | 5 (23.8%) | 4 (19.0%) | 3 (14.3%) | 2 (9.5%) | 7 (33.3%) |
| No | 119 | 19 (16.0%) | 18 (15.1%) | 44 (37.0%) | 15 (12.6%) | 23 (19.3%) | |
| Stomach ache | Yes | 14 | 2 (14.3%) | 3 (21.4%) | 5 (35.7%) | 2 (14.3%) | 2 (14.3%) |
| No | 125 | 21 (16.8%) | 19 (15.2%) | 42 (33.6%) | 15 (12.0%) | 28 (22.4%) | |
| Arthralgia | Yes | 44 | 5 (11.4%) | 2 (4.5%) | 27 (61.4%) | 4 (9.2%) | 6 (13.6%) |
| No | 95 | 18 (18.9%) | 20 (21.1%) | 21 (22.1%) | 12 (12.6%) | 24 (25.3%) | |
| Muscle pain | Yes | 19 | 2 (10.5%) | 0 (0%) | 12 (63.2%) | 1 (5.3%) | 4 (21.1%) |
| No | 119 | 21 (17.6%) | 21 (17.6%) | 36 (30.3%) | 15 (12.6%) | 26 (21.8%) | |
| Lymph node enlargement | Yes | 15 | 2 (13.3%) | 3 (20.0%) | 3 (20.0%) | 5 (33.3%) | 2 (13.3%) |
| No | 125 | 21 (16.8%) | 19 (15.2%) | 45 (36.0%) | 12 (9.6%) | 28 (22.4%) | |
| Rash | Yes | 32 | 2 (6.3%) | 6 (18.8%) | 13 (40.6%) | 5 (15.6%) | 6 (18.8%) |
| No | 109 | 22 (20.2%) | 16 (14.7%) | 35 (32.1%) | 12 (11.0%) | 24 (22.0%) | |
| Diagnostic evaluation | |||||||
| WBC‡ | Yes | 141 | 24 (17.0%) | 22 (15.6%) | 48 (34.0%) | 17 (12.1%) | 30 (21.3%) |
| CRP‡ | Yes | 141 | 24 (15.6%) | 22 (15.6%) | 48 (34.0%) | 17 (12.1%) | 30 (21.3%) |
| ESR | Yes | 115 | 14 (12.2%) | 20 (17.4%) | 40 (34.8%) | 12 (10.4%) | 29 (25.2%) |
| No | 26 | 10 (38.5%) | 2 (7.7%) | 8 (30.8%) | 5 (19.2%) | 1 (3.8%) | |
| Procalcitonin | Yes | 54 | 8 (14.8%) | 7 (13.0%) | 20 (37.0%) | 6 (11.1%) | 13 (24.1%) |
| No | 87 | 16 (18.4%) | 15 (17.2%) | 28 (32.2%) | 11 (12.6%) | 17 (19.5%) | |
| Blood culture | Yes | 125 | 23 (18.4%) | 18 (14.4%) | 42 (33.6%) | 13 (10.4%) | 29 (23.2%) |
| No | 16 | 1 (6.3%) | 4 (25.0%) | 6 (37.5%) | 4 (25.0%) | 1 (6.3%) | |
| Autopsy | Yes | 6 | 1 (16.7%) | 1 (16.7%) | 2 (33.3%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (33.3%) |
| No | 133 | 22 (16.5%) | 20 (15.0%) | 46 (34.6%) | 17 (12.8%) | 28 (21.1%) | |
| PET | Yes | 44 | 4 (9.1%) | 10 (22.7%) | 16 (36.4%) | 3 (6.8%) | 11 (25.0%) |
| No | 97 | 20 (20.6%) | 12 (12.4%) | 32 (33.0%) | 14 (14.4%) | 19 (19.6%) | |
| Ga scintigraphy | Yes | 40 | 2 (5.0%) | 8 (20.0%) | 16 (40.0%) | 3 (7.5%) | 11 (27.5%) |
| No | 101 | 22 (21.8%) | 14 (13.9%) | 32 (31.7%) | 14 (13.9%) | 19 (18.8%) | |
*Missing data would not be reported.
†Percentage was calculated as number of patients who performed examination divided by total patients for each condition.
‡WBC and CRP were performed on all patients.
CRP, C reactive protein; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; Ga, gallium; NIID, non-infectious inflammatory disease; PET, positron emission tomography; WBC, white blood cells count.