Acute Medicine | Endocrine | Endocrine causes of fever

Endocrine Causes of Fever
Session Overview
Description
Pyrexia or fever of unknown origin (PUO) is an important presentation in clinical medicine. This session describes the subcategories of PUO caused by endocrine conditions and will help in learning the process of differential diagnosis.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Make a differential diagnosis of PUO and list the endocrine conditions that are associated with fever

• Infection, inflammation/multi-system disease and neoplasia are the most common categories of condition that cause fever or pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO)
• Hyperthyroidism is the most likely thyroid status to present with the patient feeling feverish and objectively noted to have a tachycardia and fever
• Thyroid hormone is important in regulation of metabolic rate and therefore thyroid storm
• Patients with hypothyroidism may be hypothermic
• A full, logical, range of investigations should be organised in any case of PUO, and some would help determine an endocrine cause of fever