AccScience Publishing / JCBP / Volume 0 / Issue 0 / DOI: 10.36922/jcbp.4864
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CASE REPORT

Psychogenic fever and palpitations in a patient with autonomic nervous system dysfunction: A case report

Rong Chen1,2 ,  Rongjing Ding1*
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1 Department of Rehabilitation, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Beijing, China
2 Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
JCBP, 4864 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.4864
Submitted: 16 September 2024 | Revised: 5 January 2025 | Accepted: 10 January 2025 | Published: 14 February 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Mental health disorders are prevalent in cardiovascular disease patients, yet often remain under-recognized. Psychogenic fever (PF), a psychosomatic condition triggered by stress, may present as a fever of unknown origin, complicating the diagnostic process. This case report describes a 58-year-old male diagnosed with PF, a stress-induced psychosomatic disorder associated with autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction. The patient presented with a 1-year history of recurrent low-grade fever and palpitations, which remained unexplained despite comprehensive laboratory and imaging evaluations. Psychometric assessments revealed chronic stress, mild depression, and moderate anxiety, suggesting psychological stress as the potential cause of PF. ANS evaluation indicated mild impairment in heart rate variability. The patient’s significant improvement with anti-anxiety and antidepressant treatment confirmed the diagnosis of ANS dysfunction and PF. This case highlights the importance of incorporating psychometric and physio-psychological assessments into the diagnostic workup for unexplained fever, advocating for the consideration of mental health disorders after ruling out organic causes.

Keywords
Psychogenic fever
Autonomic nervous system dysfunction
Cardiology
Psychosomatic disorder
Anxiety
Palpitations
Funding
None.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Journal of Clinical and Basic Psychosomatics, Electronic ISSN: 2972-4414 Print ISSN: 3060-8562, Published by AccScience Publishing
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