Background Despite the recent advances in medicine, fever of unknown origin （FUO） remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge even to expert physicians. To increase the knowledge of FUO, we conducted a retrospect...Background Despite the recent advances in medicine, fever of unknown origin （FUO） remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge even to expert physicians. To increase the knowledge of FUO, we conducted a retrospective study to investigate the causes of FUO and the change of major causes of FUO during the past 26 years. Methods The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 997 patients with FUO hospitalized at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital （PUMCH） between January 2004 and October 2010. Furthermore, the results were compared to that reported in previous studies of FUO in PUMCH since 1985. Results Of the 997 FUO cases, definite diagnosis was eventually achieved in 797 （79.9%） patients. The most common cause of FUO was infectious diseases （479 cases, 48.0%）, with tuberculosis accounting for 45.3% （217/479） of the cases of infections. One hundred and sixty-eight （16.9%） patients were diagnosed with connective tissue diseases, with Still＇s disease and vasculitis accounted for 31.5% （53/168） and 24.4% （41/168） of this category, respectively. Neoplasms and miscellaneous causes were found in 7.9% （79/997） and 7.1% （71/997）, respectively. However, no definite diagnosis had been made in the remaining 200 （20.1%） cases until they were discharged from the hospital. Conclusions During different periods, infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis, were the leading etiology of FUO and the proportion of tuberculosis had no significant difference. While the frequency of neoplasms was descending, the proportion of lymphoma in neoplasm was ascending; the frequency of undiagnosed＇cases was increasing, but in most FUO cases the causes can be diagnosed eventually after careful analysis of clinical data.展开更多
BACKGROUND: The differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head is very important for choosing therapies and setting up surgical tactics. This study was designed to evaluate the clinical signifi...BACKGROUND: The differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head is very important for choosing therapies and setting up surgical tactics. This study was designed to evaluate the clinical significance of combined measurement of multiple serum tumor markers and the application of the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves in the differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head. METHODS: The serum levels of CA19-9, CA242, CA50 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in 112 patients with carcinoma of the pancreatic head and 38 patients with focal chronic pancreatitis in the pancreatic head were measured with ELISA. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of the four serum tumor markers were calculated. The ROC curves for the four serum tumor markers were constructed and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. RESULTS: The AUCs of CA19-9, CA242, CA50 and CEA were 0.805, 0.749, 0.738 and 0.705; the PLRs were 1.91, 3.43, 5.09 and 5.46; and the NLRs were 0.41, 0.56, 0.59 and 0.71, respectively. Combined measurements increased the diagnostic specificity, and parallel combined testing increased the diagnostic sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Combined measurement of serum tumor markers CA19-9, CA242, CA50 and CEA is valuable in differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head, and CA19-9 has the best diagnostic ability. Combined measurements can increase the specificity of diagnosis. Evaluation with the ROC curve is better than the sensitivity or specificity alone and the results are more integrated and objective.展开更多
文摘Background Despite the recent advances in medicine, fever of unknown origin （FUO） remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge even to expert physicians. To increase the knowledge of FUO, we conducted a retrospective study to investigate the causes of FUO and the change of major causes of FUO during the past 26 years. Methods The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed from 997 patients with FUO hospitalized at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital （PUMCH） between January 2004 and October 2010. Furthermore, the results were compared to that reported in previous studies of FUO in PUMCH since 1985. Results Of the 997 FUO cases, definite diagnosis was eventually achieved in 797 （79.9%） patients. The most common cause of FUO was infectious diseases （479 cases, 48.0%）, with tuberculosis accounting for 45.3% （217/479） of the cases of infections. One hundred and sixty-eight （16.9%） patients were diagnosed with connective tissue diseases, with Still＇s disease and vasculitis accounted for 31.5% （53/168） and 24.4% （41/168） of this category, respectively. Neoplasms and miscellaneous causes were found in 7.9% （79/997） and 7.1% （71/997）, respectively. However, no definite diagnosis had been made in the remaining 200 （20.1%） cases until they were discharged from the hospital. Conclusions During different periods, infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis, were the leading etiology of FUO and the proportion of tuberculosis had no significant difference. While the frequency of neoplasms was descending, the proportion of lymphoma in neoplasm was ascending; the frequency of undiagnosed＇cases was increasing, but in most FUO cases the causes can be diagnosed eventually after careful analysis of clinical data.
基金This study was supported by a grant from Clinical Subject of Ministry of Health of China (2004-2006-2).
文摘BACKGROUND: The differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head is very important for choosing therapies and setting up surgical tactics. This study was designed to evaluate the clinical significance of combined measurement of multiple serum tumor markers and the application of the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves in the differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head. METHODS: The serum levels of CA19-9, CA242, CA50 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) in 112 patients with carcinoma of the pancreatic head and 38 patients with focal chronic pancreatitis in the pancreatic head were measured with ELISA. The sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratio (PLR) and negative likelihood ratio (NLR) of the four serum tumor markers were calculated. The ROC curves for the four serum tumor markers were constructed and the area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. RESULTS: The AUCs of CA19-9, CA242, CA50 and CEA were 0.805, 0.749, 0.738 and 0.705; the PLRs were 1.91, 3.43, 5.09 and 5.46; and the NLRs were 0.41, 0.56, 0.59 and 0.71, respectively. Combined measurements increased the diagnostic specificity, and parallel combined testing increased the diagnostic sensitivity. CONCLUSIONS: Combined measurement of serum tumor markers CA19-9, CA242, CA50 and CEA is valuable in differential diagnosis of solid lesions located at the pancreatic head, and CA19-9 has the best diagnostic ability. Combined measurements can increase the specificity of diagnosis. Evaluation with the ROC curve is better than the sensitivity or specificity alone and the results are more integrated and objective.
