title: Fever of unknown origin in the elderly: diagnosis and treatment.
abstract: Do not yield to the temptation to turn to a checklist and simply order a battery of sophisticated, expensive, and sometimes-invasive tests. The individual patient must remain the centerpiece of the diagnostic evaluation. All medications should, if possible, be discontinued early in the patient's evaluation, since drugs can on occasion produce prolonged pyrexia.
mesh_terms: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000368:Aged; D001167:Arteritis / Q000150:complications*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005335:Fever of Unknown Origin / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007239:Infections / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications*; D010808:Physical Examination; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones