Familial Mediterranean fever

Familial mediterranean fever is prevalent in the Mediterranean Basin among Tur ks, Armenians, Sephardic Jews and Arabs. However, many cases have been described in different parts of the world. Ambiguities still exist regardin g the etiology of the disease despite recent break-throughs. It is almost a greed that the disease is inherited in an autosomal recessive manner. The s pectrum of the disease manifestations and associations is still expanding h owever, the cardinal manifestations remain the same: fever, peritonitis, pl eurisy and arthritis. Despite some criteria that have been forwarded; the d iagnosis remains clinical and lacks a reliable and specific test. Colchicin e remains the only available effective drug that prevents the attacks in th e majority of cases, and more importantly, largely prevents the most dreadf ul complication of the disease: amyloidosis. It is hoped that after mapping the gene that causes familial mediterranean fever, a new curative treatmen t may soon be available.