Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37420165›Full record

ArticleBMC infectious diseases2023

Structured diagnostic scheme clinical experience sharing: a prospective study of 320 cases of fever of unknown origin in a tertiary hospital in North China.

Lin Jiang, Han Wu, Sen Zhao, Yu Zhang, Ning Song

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC infectious diseases, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 20% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Immune Biomarker Signature in the Diagnostic Workup of Fever Without Source: A Pilot Study.Mediterranean journal of hematology and infectious diseases · 2026
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Lin Jiang *Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Han Wu *Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Sen ZhaoDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Yu ZhangDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China.
Ning SongDepartment of Infectious Diseases, The Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, China. songning_hbmu@126.com.
Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University · CNHebei Medical University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere has been little research on the long-term clinical outcomes of patients discharged due to undiagnosed fevers of unknown origin (FUO). The purpose of this study was to determine how fever of unknown origin (FUO) evolves over time and to determine the prognosis of patients in order to guide clinical diagnosis and treatment decisions.

methodsBased on FUO structured diagnosis scheme, prospectively included 320 patients who hospitalized at the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Second Hospital of Hebei Medical University from March 15, 2016 to December 31,2019 with FUO, to analysis the cause of FUO, pathogenetic distribution and prognosis, and to compare the etiological distribution of FUO between different years, genders, ages, and duration of fever.

resultsAmong the 320 patients, 279 were finally diagnosed through various types of examination or diagnostic methods, and the diagnosis rate was 87.2%. Among all the causes of FUO, 69.3% were infectious diseases, of which Urinary tract infection 12.8% and lung infection 9.7% were the most common. The majority of pathogens are bacteria. Among contagious diseases, brucellosis is the most common. Non-infectious inflammatory diseases were responsible for 6.3% of cases, of which systemic lupus erythematosus(SLE) 1.9% was the most common; 5% were neoplastic diseases; 5.3% were other diseases; and in 12.8% of cases, the cause was unclear. In 2018-2019, the proportion of infectious diseases in FUO was higher than 2016-2017 (P < 0.05). The proportion of infectious diseases was higher in men and older FUO than in women and young and middle-aged (P < 0.05). According to follow-up, the mortality rate of FUO patients during hospitalization was low at 1.9%.

conclusionsInfectious diseases are the principal cause of FUO. There are temporal differences in the etiological distribution of FUO, and the etiology of FUO is closely related to the prognosis. It is important to identify the etiology of patients with worsening or unrelieved disease.

Indexed as

Communicable DiseasesFever of Unknown OriginLupus Erythematosus, SystemicChinaFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesRetrospective StudiesTertiary Care CentersCauseFevers of unknown originPrognosis

Identifiers

PMID37420165
PMCPMC10327337
OpenAlexW4383554788

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.