Fever of unknown origin (FUO) due to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) presenting as pericarditis

Andrew Petelin, Diane H. Johnson, Burke A. Cunha

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fevers of unknown origin (FUOs) are classified according to the underlying disorder. The 4 main clinical categories of FUOs are infectious, malignant, rheumatic/inflammatory, and miscellaneous disorders. Although malignancy remains the most common cause of FUOs, rheumatic/inflammatory disorders remain important diagnostically and therapeutically. Rheumatic/inflammatory disorders, for example, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) presenting as FUO, have become uncommon in recent years because of better serologic diagnostic tests. However, SLE remains a rare but important cause of FUO in adults. SLE may be a difficult FUO diagnosis when a patient presents with fever without joint manifestations as the only symptoms of SLE. During the workup of the patient described in this article, the other causes of pericarditis were ruled out and SLE pericarditis was diagnosed. This is a rare case of an adult FUO with pericarditis as the only manifestation of SLE.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)152-153
Number of pages2
JournalHeart and Lung: Journal of Acute and Critical Care
Volume42
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Cardiac manifestations of SLE
  • FUO due to SLE
  • FUO due to collagen vascular diseases
  • Fever with SLE
  • Idiopathic pericarditis
  • SLE serositis
  • Viral pericarditis

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