Fever of unknown origin refers to a condition in which a patient has an elevated temperature for which no cause can be found despite investigation by one or more qualified physicians. When a cause is eventually found, it is usually reached as a diagnosis of exclusion, eliminating other possibilities until only the correct explanation remains.
Facts
Partially Attested
Causative Agent (category)Idiopathic / Multifactorial 2 Source lists five distinct cause categories (infections, neoplasms, connective tissue disease, miscellaneous disorders, undiagnosed conditions); no single agent type predominates, matching idiopathic-multifactorial Classification
ICD-10 ChapterXVIII: Symptoms, Signs and Abnormal Clinical and Laboratory Findings, Not Elsewhere Classified 1 Sources
1. Wikipedia: ICD-10
WikipediaList of chapters, Chapter XVIIIQuote, List of chapters, Chapter XVIII
Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified
2. Wikipedia: Fever of unknown origin
Lead section
Fever of unknown origin (FUO) refers to a condition in which the patient has an elevated temperature (fever) for which no cause can be found despite investigations by one or more qualified physicians.
Diagnosis, Classic FUO
Studies show there are five categories of conditions: infections (e.g. abscesses, endocarditis, tuberculosis, and complicated urinary tract infections), neoplasms (e.g. lymphomas, leukaemias), connective tissue diseases (e.g. temporal arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica, Still's disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis), miscellaneous disorders (e.g. alcoholic hepatitis, granulomatous conditions), and undiagnosed conditions.
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