Sensitivity of the criteria used to diagnose adult still's disease in internal medicine practice. a study of 17 cases

Abstract

Our aim was to compare the sensitivity of various diagnostic criteria for adult Still's disease in 17 patients with established adult Still's disease who were followed in a department of internal medicine over a mean period of 7 years. The median age of the 17 patients was 27 years and the sex ratio M:F was 1:4. The patients had essentially systemic manifestations with fever (n=14), inflammation and leukocytosis (n=16), and moderate liver dysfunction (n=13) that disappeared after a mean of 21 days (range 8-48 days). In the first week of hospitalization, the sensitivities of the criteria proposed by Yamaguchi, Reginato, and Kahn were 94, 18, and 23%, respectively. One month later, the sensitivity was 100% for Yamaguchi's diagnostic criteria versus only 88% for Reginato's and Kahn's criteria. This study confirms that Yamaguchi's diagnostic criteria are more sensitive and are met earlier than Reginato's and Kahn's criteria in patients followed in internal medicine.