Abstract

Background:Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a monogenic inherited periodic fever syndrome presenting with episodes of self-limiting fever and inflammation of serosal membranes. The attacks emerge with arthritis were defined as one of the major diagnostic criteria besides involvement of serosal membranes. Non-specific musculoskeletal findings such as myalgia, arthralgia, transient synovitis, and more rare manifestations like protracted febrile myalgia can also be seen in FMF patients attacksObjectives:We aim to reveal the frequency and genotype association of musculoskeletal manifestations in children with FMF.Methods:The patients diagnosed with FMF between January 1, 2017 and June 1, 2019, and followed for at least 6 months in our pediatric rheumatology clinic were included in the study. Musculoskeletal manifestations of patients were enrolled. The patients were grouped according to the “Mediterranean Fever” (MEFV) gene variants. Musculoskeletal manifestations of the patients were compared between the groupsResults:The study group included 634 children with FMF (336 female and 298 male, F/M: 1.13/1). The clinical manifestations of patients in attack period were as follows: 99% of the patients had fever, 87.3% had abdominal pain, 20.7% had chest pain, 11.3% had vomiting, 10.7% had erysipelas like erythema, and 9.3% had headache. The musculoskeletal symptoms were accompanied by 58.6% (n: 372) of the patients during the attack period. The most common musculoskeletal manifestation was found as arthralgia (32.6%, n: 206). Also, the other musculosceletal manifestations were found as follows during attacks; arthritis in 23.7% (n: 150), myalgia in 20.5% (n: 130), exertional calf pain in 6.5% (n: 41), and protracted febrile myalgia in 1% (n: 7) of the patients. It was observed that the musculoskeletal manifestations were significantly higher in patients with homozygous M694V variant in exon-10 (p=0.017). Also, it was found that the musculoskeletal manifestations are more common in the attack periods of patients carrying the M694V variant in at least one allele (p = 0.019).Conclusion:It was determined that the musculoskeletal manifestations were seen as an attack symptom in more than half of FMF patients. Also, homozygous and compound heterozygous MEFV mutations including M694V variant found as a risk factor for emerge of musculoskeletal manifestations. In children with unexplained and recurrent musculoskeletal symptoms, especially in ethnicities with the high frequency of FMF, analysis of MEFV gene can help reveal the underlying cause.

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