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Febrile conditions in rheumatology

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Abstract

Fever is not the most frequent symptom in rheumatology; however, its occurrence always draws attention to a severe underlying pathologic process. The rheumatologic assessment of febrile patients usually takes place for three reasons: the patient’s fever is associated with known rheumatic disease or musculoskeletal symptoms, or rheumatologic cause is suggested as the underlying cause of fever of unknown origin. The primary task of the rheumatologist is to rule out infections and autoimmune processes. In addition to the musculoskeletal and accompanying symptoms, the information about the course of fever and the observation of the continuity or periodicity of fever provide help to establish the diagnosis. A summarising discourse about this issue is rarely published in this speciality; therefore, we found it important to provide an overview of rheumatological diseases accompanied by fever.

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Acknowledgments

We express our most sincere gratitude to Dr. Éva Székely for her outstanding help during the writing of this publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheumatology Unit, Flór Ferenc Hospital, Semmelweis tér 1, Kistarcsa, 2143, Hungary

    E. Tóth

  2. Pálmai-Med Private Medical Praxis, Margit körút 44, Budapest, 1027, Hungary

    G. Speer

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  1. E. Tóth
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  2. G. Speer
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Correspondence to G. Speer.

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Tóth, E., Speer, G. Febrile conditions in rheumatology. Clin Rheumatol 31, 1649–1656 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-012-2064-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-012-2064-7

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