PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Pavel Olegovich Sotskiy AU - Olga Leontevna Sotskaya AU - Hasmik Sureni Hayrapetyan AU - Tamara Fadei Sarkisian AU - Anna Rafaelovna Yeghiazaryan AU - Stepan Armenovich Atoyan AU - Eldad Ben-Chetrit TI - Infertility Causes and Pregnancy Outcome in Patients With Familial Mediterranean Fever and Controls AID - 10.3899/jrheum.200574 DP - 2021 Apr 01 TA - The Journal of Rheumatology PG - 608--614 VI - 48 IP - 4 4099 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/48/4/608.short 4100 - http://www.jrheum.org/content/48/4/608.full SO - J Rheumatol2021 Apr 01; 48 AB - Objective Recurrent attacks of peritonitis due to familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) may lead to peritoneal adhesions and fallopian tube obstruction. Colchicine, which is the treatment of choice for FMF, may disturb cell division. Secondary amyloidosis, a complication of untreated FMF, may involve the testes and ovaries. Thus, FMF and colchicine may potentially affect fertility and pregnancy in patients with FMF. The aims of the study are to evaluate the causes of infertility and pregnancy outcome in FMF patients and to compare them with 2 groups: non-FMF patients with peritoneal female genital tuberculosis (FGTB) and normal healthy controls.Methods This is a retrospective study in which FMF patients with reproductive disorders were recruited from the National Center of Medical Genetics and Primary Health Care in Yerevan, Armenia. The patients with FGTB and the healthy controls with reproductive problems were recruited successively from a large gynecology clinic in Yerevan. Genetic analyses for FMF were performed using ViennaLab StripAssay.Results The FMF group (211 patients) resembles the FGTB group (127 patients) regarding etiologies of infertility. However, in vitro fertilization (IVF) success rate and pregnancy outcome were comparable between the FMF patients and the control group (162 patients). Infertility in patients with FMF was clearly associated with a more severe disease and a lack of adequate colchicine treatment.Conclusions Colchicine medication and controlled FMF disease do not adversely affect the reproductive system and pregnancy outcome. However, a lack of an appropriate colchicine treatment may cause infertility and poor pregnancy outcome.