Autosomal dominant 'Mediterranean fever' in a Finnish family

A 23-year-old Finnish man was examined because of an 8-year history of recurrent bouts of fever and abdominal pain. His father had been repeatedly investigated because of similar episodes since he was 24 years old, and one of the father's sisters was reported to have had recurrent periods of fever. The clinical features closely resembled those of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a syndrome rarely described in families of European descent. Unlike typical FMF, which is inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, the mode of inheritance of the syndrome in our family may be regarded as dominant. During a recent attack, serum concentrations of interleukin-1-beta, interleukin-6 and acute phase reactants, including serum amyloid A protein, were high. No signs of amyloidosis were detected in our patients.