Familial Mediterranean fever: clinical case

Background. Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is the brightest exponent of autoinflammatory diseases. FMF usually occurs to people of Mediterranean origin (Jews, Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Arabs, Kurds, Greeks, Turks and Italians). This is a hereditary disease with the autosomal recessive inheritance. Includes history of research, epidemiology FMF, variants of the disease course, methods of treatment. Clinical case description. A 61-year-old woman arrived complaining of weakness, fever, joint pain. First sign of disease showed at 20-years-old. When she came in: WBC 20.1-109/l, HGB 6.7 g/ml, ESR 60 mm/h, CRP 100 mg/l, CRP 202 μmol/L, UREA 19.7 mmol/L. Quantity of protein in one liter of urine 0.160 g. Ultrasonic signs of pyelectasis in both kidneys. The diagnosis was made on the basis of characteristic attacks of fever, polyarthritis, thoracalgia of Armenian nationality patient. The diagnosis was confirmed by the detection of amyloidosis and genetic data. Conclusion. Knowledge of the FMF clinical profile is important for differential diagnosis with many acute conditions, e.g. acute abdomen, myocardial infarction, pneumothorax, rheumatic diseases. It is important to remember that untimely diagnosis and improper treatment lead to the development of AA-amyloidosis (30-40%) with the outcome of renal failure.