Adult-onset Still's disease

Adult-onset Still's disease is a rare systemic autoinflammatory disease characterized by the classic triad of fevers, joint pain and a distinctive salmon-colored bumpy rash, and is considered a diagnosis of exclusion. Patients can also have an enlarged liver and spleen, swollen lymph nodes, elevated white blood cell counts and extreme fatigue, with rare but serious complications affecting the lungs, heart or kidneys. The underlying cause is unknown and the disease is not heritable, though interleukin-1 and interleukin-18 appear to be involved, since medications blocking interleukin-1 beta are effective treatments. The disease is named after English physician Sir George Frederic Still, and the adult-onset form was characterized by E. G. Bywaters in 1971.