Eritrosedimentación extremadamente elevada en una población de adultos en la ciudad de Buenos Aires

BACKGROUND An extremely elevated erythrosedimentation rate (ESR), defined as equal or higher than 100 mm/h, has been linked to serious underlying conditions, such as infections, connective tissue and oncologic disease. AIM To analyze a group of patients in order to determine the underlying diagnosis and the characteristics associated with extremely elevated ESR in our environment. METHODS Cross-sectional study of adult patients, who presented with at least one ESR equal or higher than 100 mm/h at Hospital Italiano, in Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires, Argentina) between January 2002 and August 2014. RESULTS During the previously stated period of time, we analyzed the results of 879 patients. All patients were over 18 years of age. The median for the ESR results was 111 mm/h (interquartile range 105-120). The most prevalent etiology of an elevated ESR was infectious (41.64%), followed by malignancies (21.62%) and autoimmune / inflammatory diseases (12.97%). The most frequent individual diagnosis found was pneumonia (11.49%), followed by undetermined causes (5.92%). CONCLUSION When comparing inpatient versus outpatient populations, the most frequent cause was infectious in the former group, while malignancies were the most frequent diagnosis in the latter.