Neonatal onset familial Mediterranean fever

Abstract

Objectives: Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease characterised by recurrent, self-limited attacks of fever with serositis. Recently, it was shown that FMF patients with early disease onset have more severe disease. The aim of this study was to describe the demographic, clinical and genetic features of FMF patients who had disease onset during the neonatal period.

Methods: Medical records of all patients diagnosed as FMF and had been seen in the outpatient clinic of Paediatric Rheumatology department between January 2013 and January 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. Patients with disease onset during the first month of life were included to the study.

Results: Among 317 patients; 19 (12 males) were included to the study. Approximately 60% of the patients had family history of FMF. Homozygous p.M694V mutation was detected in 42% of the cases. Thirteen patients present with attacks of fever and remaining had attacks in the form of restlessness, resembling infantile colic starting in the neonatal period. Majority of these patients developed classical abdominal attacks between the ages of 1 and 2.5 years. The diagnosis of FMF was significantly delayed; the median age at onset of therapy was 3.5 years (range 7 months–17 years).

Conclusion: Patients with FMF could have complaints even in the neonatal period. Homozygous p.M694V mutation is a prominent mutation in this group of patients. In order to prevent diagnostic delay physicians dealing with these type of patients should be more vigilant.

Keywords:

• Diagnosis
• familial Mediterranean fever
• mutation
• neonatal onset

Conflict of interest

None.

Ethical approval

There is an ethics committee approval dated 02.02.2017 and numbered 02-66-17 approved by the Ethics Committee of Ankara University Faculty of Medicine and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was waived for this retrospective chart review.