Biography
Biography: Shrikant Solav
Abstract
Fever/pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) is defined as temperature greater than 38.5 degree Celsius lasting for more than three weeks, of which at least 2 weeks have been spent in thorough investigations. The causes of PUO can be divided into infectious, malignancy, autoimmune and others. Tuberculosis, abdominal, pelvic, dental abscesses, infective endocarditis, prostatitis are some of the common infectious causes of PUO. Lymphoma, chronic leukemia, renal cell carcinoma, hepatoma, colon carcinomas are some of the malignant conditions for PUO. Rheumatic fever, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, temporal arteritis are some of the causes of autoimmune disorders accounting for PUO. Certain drugs, sarcoidosis, deep vein thrombosis are some other causes of PUO. After thorough clinical examination, blood culture, serology, the imaging tests include chest radiograph, ultrasonography, CT and MRI of relevant regions, trans-oesophageal echocardiography for evidence of infective endocarditis. The nuclear medicine procedures include Technetium 99m-Methylene diphosphonate skeletal scintigraphy, Gallium-67 citrate for occult infection, sarcoidosis and malignancy, Tc-99m-WBC scan for abdominal/pelvic infections. Positron emission tomography using Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose may be performed to look for occult infection or neoplasm. Presented here is a list of cases of PUO that were finally diagnosed using FDG PET/CT scan.