Researchers have identified factors that may contribute to delayed diagnoses among patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), according to a press release from EULAR. The new findings were presented by Bourguiba et al at the EULAR 2023 Congress and simultaneously published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. Experts explained that patients with FMF, the most common autoinflammatory disease among individuals of Mediterranean descent, can experience recurrent flares consisting of fevers as well as abdominal and thoracic pain. In a new study, the researchers enrolled 960 patients with FMF and found that 80% of those patients received a diagnosis within 10 years, whereas 20% of them received delayed diagnoses. Because a majority of those who received delayed diagnoses were female patients, the researchers suggested that symptoms of abdominal pain may be mistaken for menstrual dysmenorrhea. Further, patients who were diagnosed later also presented more frequently with erysipelas-like erythema during their FMF flares and amyloidosis. The researchers concluded that improving patient-physician communication could help increase the rate of earlier diagnoses in these patients.
June 19, 2023