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SHERMAN M. MELLINKOFF, M.D.; ARTHUR D. SCHWABE, M.D.; JOHN S. LAWRENCE, M.D.

Arch Intern Med. 1961;108(1):80-85.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Familial Mediterranean fever is an inherited disease in persons of Mediterranean ancestry.¹ The illness is characterized by short, self-limited attacks of fever, usually accompanied by severe pain in the abdomen or chest. Familial Mediterranean fever is also known as periodic disease,^2,3 benign paroxysmal peritonitis,⁴ the Armenian's disease,⁵ and familial recurring polyserositis.⁶ There is little doubt that this disorder is an inborn error of metabolism, and in certain susceptible populations, such as the Jews of Iraq, it has been calculated that familial Mediterranean fever is determined by a recessive gene present in approximately 1 in 52 persons, with the manifest illness appearing in a ratio of about 1 to 2,720.⁷ The only demonstrable histopathology, other than a nonspecific inflammatory response, such as peritonitis, during the attacks of fever, has been the emergence of amyloidosis in a high percentage of the patients.⁸ The underlying metabolic . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
LOS ANGELES

From the Department of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles.

Footnotes
Submitted for publication May 24, 1960.

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