Fever of unknown origin in uremic patients: A controlled prospective study

Twenty-nine uremic patients with fever of unknown origin(FUO) admitted to o ur clinic between 1994 and 1998 were evaluated prospectively. A group of 50 consecutive non-uremic patients with FUO followed up during the same perio d was used for comparison. The causes of FUO found in the uremic and non-ur emic groups, respectively were as follows: infectious diseases, 69 vs. 44% (p=0.03); collagen vascular diseases, 6.9 vs. 6%; neoplasms, 3.4 vs. 26%; m iscellaneous causes, 3.4 vs. 16%; and undiagnosed, 17.2 vs. 8%. Tuberculosi s was the most common cause of FUO in both groups. The spectrum of underlyi ng conditions for FUO in our uremic patients differed from that in the non- uremic patients and the uremic patients had a very high propensity for infe ctious diseases, especially tuberculosis.