[Fever of unknown origin in the elderly of the 90's]

Abstract

Materials and methods: Eighteen elderly patients (mean age 76.3 +/- 6.9 years) with fever of unknown origin (FUO) are studied sequentially and prospectively from January 1994 to December 1996. The classic Petersdori's criteria of FUO are no more valid for the elderly. The fever of more than 3-4 weeks duration is the only criterion to be considered, the fever is frequently under 38.5 degrees C and the elderly patient is often studied for more than 1 week outside the hospital.

Results: The most frequent underlying conditions were: malignancies in particular haematological diseases, followed by multisystem diseases and infections, tuberculosis "in primis".

Conclusions: Selected investigations directed to the most frequent underlying conditions of FUO in the aged individuals overcome the financial cost and the patient discomfort of the tests since an identified curable disease can improve the life expectancy and quality.