[Auto-inflammatory syndromes]

Auto-inflammatory syndromes are a group of hereditary diseases characterised by intermittent bouts of clinical inflammation with focal organ involvement mainly: abdomen, musculoskeletal system and skin. The most frequent is familial Mediterranean fever, which affects patients of Mediterranean descent all over the world. Three other types have been recently clinically as well as genetically characterised. A thorough diagnosis is warranted, as clinical and therapeutic management is specific for each of these diseases, as underlied by a specific inflammatory pathway. This new group of diseases has already opened new avenues in our understanding of the inflammatory response.