Long-Term Complications of Familial Mediterranean Fever

Abstract

The recurrent inflammatory attacks in FMF cause intense acute symptoms and confer a markedly increased relative risk of developing AA amyloidosis and eventually end-stage renal disease. Prior to the colchicine era, this was a major scourge particularly around the Eastern Mediterranean. Other potential complications of FMF include destructive arthritis, adhesions, subfertility, and vasculitis. Fortunately, these remain very rare, and with long-term treatment, recent studies suggest that both complications and mortality for FMF appear very close to age-matched healthy controls.