TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Maternal Fever and Infection A1 - Weyker, Paul A1 - Webb, Christopher A1 - Haight, Matthew A2 - Freeman, Brian S. A2 - Berger, Jeffrey S. PY - 2016 T2 - Anesthesiology Core Review: Part Two Advanced Exam AB - The average temperature of a normal healthy adult is 37°C. Temperature regulation is controlled by the hypothalamus, which is able to integrate temperature information from various parts of the body and provide physiologic responses to changes in temperature to maintain thermal homeostasis. While there are normal temperature changes based on diurnal rhythms, any temperature greater than 38°C is considered to be pathologically elevated. In the case of infection, it is thought that pyrogens released from either microorganisms or host white blood cells can increase the temperature set point of the hypothalamus or inhibit normal compensatory responses such as vasodilation. In pregnancy, the serum white blood cell count is often elevated representing an increase in immature leukocytes. As such, the pregnant patient is relatively immunocompromised and more prone to infection. SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/03/28 UR - accessanesthesiology.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1135743347 ER -