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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2017; 07(04): 158-163
DOI: 10.4103/ajm.AJM_78_17
REVIEW ARTICLE

Cardiac manifestations of Familial Mediterranean fever

Ahmad Alsarah
Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
,
Osama Alsara
Department of Cardiovascular Diseases, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
,
Heather S Laird-Fick
Department of Internal Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is autoinflammatory disorder characterized by sporadic attacks of fever, peritonitis, pleuritis, and arthritis. It is mainly seen in patients from Mediterranean origins, but it is now reported more frequently in Europe and North America due to immigration. To analyze the data on the cardiovascular manifestations in FMF patients, we searched PubMed using the terms “Familial Mediterranean Fever” or “FMF” in combination with other key words including “cardiovascular diseases” “pericardial diseases” “atherosclerosis” “coronary artery diseases” “cardiomyopathy” “pulmonary hypertension” or “valvular diseases.” suggested several mechanisms to explain the cardiac involvements in FMF including the ongoing inflammation and the amyloid deposits in the heart and vessels' walls at the advanced stages of FMF. The course of these manifestations varies widely, but it can associate with poor prognosis in some cases such as with pulmonary hypertension. Interestingly, Colchicine, which is the cornerstone therapy of FMF, plays a vital role in treating and preventing some of these disorders. In this article, In this article, we will discuss the incidence, pathophysiology, and prognosis of the various cardiac manifestations affecting FMF patients.

Keywords

Atherosclerosis - cardiomyopathy - coronary artery disease - familial mediterranean fever - pericarditis


Publication History

Article published online:
09 August 2021

© 2017. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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