Pel-Ebstein fever

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Pel-Ebstein fever is a rarely seen condition noted in patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma in which the patient experiences fevers which cyclicly increase then decrease over an average period of one or two weeks. A cyclic fever may also be associated with other conditions, but it is not called "Pel-Ebstein fever" unless the fever is associated with Hodgkin's.

Causes

The cause is currently unknown although speculation centers on host immune response, lymph node necrosis, and damaged stomal cells.

Treatment

Treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents or treatment of the underlying Hodgkin's (usually with chemotherapy) will help the symptoms.

Eponym

The condition is named after Wilhelm Ebstein and PK Pel who both published papers in 1887 noting the phenomenon.

Controversy

Researchers have speculated whether this condition truly exists, since some authorities anecdotally estimate only a 5-10% occurrence rate. In his Lettsomian Lecture Making Sense, delivered to the Medical Society of London in 1959, Richard Asher refers to Pel-Ebstein fever as an example of a condition that exists only because it has a name. "Every student and every doctor knows that cases of Hodgkin's disease may show a fever that is high for one week and low for the next week and so on. Does this phenomenon really exist at all?..."

References

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Last updated on Tuesday June 17, 2008 at 00:47:38 PDT (GMT -0700)
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