Comparison of initial and final diagnoses in children with acute febrile illness: A retrospective, descriptive study: Initial and final diagnoses in children with acute fever

Abstract

BackgroundThis study aimed to elucidate the etiologies and diagnostic errors of early-phase pediatric fever without an obvious cause. MethodsThis single-center, retrospective, descriptive study included 1334 febrile children hospitalized at Beppu Medical Center in Japan between 2014 and 2018. Eligibility criteria were age ≤12 years, axillary temperature ≥38.0°C, and fever duration ≤7 days at admission. Initial diagnoses on the day of admission and final diagnoses at defervescence were divided into initial fever with identified source (FIS) and initial fever without source (FWS) and final FIS and final FWS, respectively. The etiology of initial FWS and diagnostic discordance between initial FIS and final FIS were investigated. ResultsOf the 1334 participants, 94 (7.0%) were diagnosed with initial FWS. Among patients with initial FWS, final diagnoses were confirmed in 40 (43%), including Kawasaki disease in 17, urinary tract infection in 5, bacteremia in 4, exanthem subitum in 3, and the others in 11. Among the 1275 patients diagnosed with final FIS, diagnostic discordances between initial and final diagnoses were observed in 131 patients (10%). The multiple logistic regression analysis identified increased serum C-reactive protein value at admission (odds ratio [OR]: 1.09; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.06–1.13), exanthem subitum (OR: 409; 95% CI: 119–1399), and Kawasaki disease (OR: 14.3; 95% CI: 8.7–23.3) as independent risk factors for diagnostic discordance. ConclusionExanthem subitum and Kawasaki disease may be undiagnosed or misdiagnosed in febrile children with fever duration ≤7 days.