Home > Encyclopedia of Children's Health > Familial Mediterranean Fever

Definition

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an inherited disorder characterized by an inflammatory response recurring with attacks of fever accompanied by intense pain in the abdomen, chest, or joints. Attacks usually last 12–72 hours and can occasionally involve a skin rash. Kidney disease is a serious complication that may develop if the disorder is not treated. FMF is most prevalent in people of Armenian, Sephardic-Jewish, Arabic, and Turkish ancestry. The disorder takes its name from the fact that these ethnic groups live in countries along or near the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

FMF is sometimes grouped together with other periodic fevers in a category called autoinflammatory disorders. The term was invented to describe illnesses caused by genetic defects in the...