Definition
In medicine, Pel-Ebstein fever is a feverish rise in temperature with an undulating course. Febrile and fever-free phases alternate again and again. The individual phases last for about three to ten days.
As a rule, Pel-Ebstein fever does not occur as an independent clinical picture, but is a symptom of an underlying disease. It most frequently occurs in the context of malignant lymph node cancer, Hodgkin’s disease or Hodgkin’s lymphoma. However, Hodgkin’s lymphoma often manifests itself without Pel-Ebstein fever. Therefore, it is not an obligatory symptom of the disease.
Cause of Pel-Ebstein fever
The exact cause of Pel-Ebstein fever is not known. Since the fever usually occurs in connection with a malignant underlying disease, Hodgkin’s disease, it is assumed that the fever occurs in response to a signal substance release of the tumor. The degenerated cells can release certain signal and messenger substances, so-called cytokines, which in turn can cause fever. The wave-like course of the fever could be caused by a cyclic release of such messenger substances
Diagnosis of Pel-Ebstein fever
The diagnosis of Pel-Ebstein fever is comparatively easy to make. The diagnosis is based on the clinical observation of the patient. If the patient complains of recurrent febrile episodes with fever-free intervals in between, this already describes the diagnosis.
It is important, however, that such symptoms are followed up by further diagnostics to find the cause of Pel-Ebstein fever. As this is often a malignant Hodgkin lymphoma, it is essential to examine the patient’s lymph node stations. For this purpose, a physical examination is performed by the physician and ultrasound, computer tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging can be used to identify abnormal lymph nodes.
Symptoms of Pel-Ebstein fever
The typical symptom of Pel-Ebstein fever is an undulating fever pattern with alternating febrile and fever-free episodes lasting about three to ten days each. The fever can occur within the scope of the so-called B-symptomatics in a malignant underlying disease and is then paired with heavy sweating at night (night sweat) and unintentional weight loss of >10% of the body weight within six months.
