Unexplained recurrent fever: when is autoinflammation the explanation?

Area of Science:

• Internal Medicine
• Genetics and Genomics
• Rheumatology

Background:

• Recurrent fever is a common presenting symptom for diverse medical conditions.
• The differential diagnosis for recurrent fever is broad, lacking established clinical guidelines.
• Autoinflammatory diseases (AIDs) are a newly recognized group often presenting with recurrent fevers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review diseases commonly presenting with recurrent fever.
• To summarize characteristic disease presentations.
• To identify key features distinguishing autoinflammatory diseases from other causes of fever.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of disease entities associated with recurrent fever.
• Analysis of symptom patterns in various febrile illnesses.
• Comparative analysis of autoinflammatory diseases versus other fever causes.

Main Results:

• Identified common disease categories including malignancies, autoimmune diseases, infections, and AIDs.
• Detailed characteristic presentations for each disease category.
• Highlighted specific clinical and laboratory features aiding in the diagnosis of AIDs.

Conclusions:

• Recognizing distinct symptom patterns is crucial for diagnosing recurrent fever.
• Differentiating autoinflammatory diseases requires careful analysis of clinical presentations.
• Identifying AIDs facilitates targeted diagnostic workups and therapeutic interventions.