title: Febrile seizures in children with familial Mediterranean fever: Coincidence or association?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an inherited disease characterized by recurrent bouts of fever and polyserositis and caused by MEditerranean FeVer gene (MEFV) mutations. Given the febrile characteristics of the disease one would expect higher frequency of febrile seizure in this group of pediatric patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the frequency of febrile seizure and related factors in patients with FMF.
  
  
  METHODS
  The children with the diagnosis of FMF were enrolled in the study. Information including clinical features, type of mutation and the history of febrile seizure were all noted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 97 patients, 43 (44.3%) girls with a median age of 7.93 ± 4.05 years (2-16) and a median follow-up period of 20.65 ± 24.33 months (6-135) were included in the study. The frequency of febrile seizure in children with FMF was found as 13.4%, which is higher than the general population [p = 0.04, OR: 2.9 (95% CI: 1.0-8.5)]. The allele frequency of exon 2 mutations in MEFV genes was higher in the patients with febrile seizure (p = 0.03). Frequency of FMF related clinical findings (fever, abdominal pain, arthralgia/myalgia, arthritis, chest pain and erysipelas-like erythema) was similar between the two groups. However, frequency of headache was higher in the patients with febrile seizure (p = 0.014).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The frequency of febrile seizure in children with FMF was found to be higher than the general population. Although this finding may be related to high fever during FMF attacks in individuals with genetic propensity of febrile seizure, it may also be a neurologic complication of FMF.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Nephrology and Rheumatology, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey. Electronic address: elif_comak@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Çomak
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematology, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Özlem
authors.initials: Ö
authors.lastname: Tüfekçi
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kılıçbay
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Nephrology and Rheumatology, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Emel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Isıyel
authors.affiliation: Pediatrics, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ali Haydar
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Sever
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetics, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayça
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aslanger
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Neurology, Derince Training and Research Hospital, Kocaeli, Turkey.
authors.forename: Barış
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ekici
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D010505:Familial Mediterranean Fever / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*
keywords: Children; Familial Mediterranean fever; Febrile seizure