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Familial Mediterranean fever responds well to infliximab: single case experience

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Abstract

The most common arthritic involvement in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is acute recurrent monoarthritis; however, sometimes spondyloarthropathy-like findings or typical ankylosing spondylitis may also ensue. Reported here is our favorable experience with infliximab in an FMF patient who had been resistant to colchicine and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (sulfasalazine and methotrexate) treatments. A 72-week follow-up of the patient yielded complete remission of the febrile abdominal episodes, and spondylitis responded well. The patient’s bilateral aseptic necrosis of the femoral head deteriorated and caused hip pain, discomfort, and disability. Overall, we believe that tumor necrosis factor (TNF) alpha has an important role in the disease pathogenesis and also that anti-TNF may represent a promising robust treatment alternative in FMF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Rheumatology, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey

    Salih Ozgocmen, Ozge Ardicoglu & Arzu Kaya

  2. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University Medical School, Ankara, Turkey

    Levent Özçakar

  3. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Firat University, Elazig, Turkey

    Ercan Kocakoc & Adem Kiris

Authors
  1. Salih Ozgocmen
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  2. Levent Özçakar
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  3. Ozge Ardicoglu
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  4. Ercan Kocakoc
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  5. Arzu Kaya
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  6. Adem Kiris
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Correspondence to Salih Ozgocmen.

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Ozgocmen, S., Özçakar, L., Ardicoglu, O. et al. Familial Mediterranean fever responds well to infliximab: single case experience. Clin Rheumatol 25, 83–87 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-005-1122-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-005-1122-9

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