Evaluation of the MEFV gene mutations and clinical symptoms in186 patients diagnosed as familial Mediterranean fever

Objective: This retrospective study aimed to evaluate the clinical symptoms and the MEFV mutation ratios of the 186 patients diagnosed as Familial Mediterranean Fever. Methods: Age, sex, admission symptoms, family history, and the MEFV mutation test cases of the 186 patients followed as Familial Mediterranean Fever were evaluated retrospectively. MEFV gene was analyzed with DNA sequence analysis after amplifying the exons 1.-10. using PCR method. Results: There were 84 male and 102 female in the study, and the mean age was 9.45 ± 4.40 years. 26.9% of the patients had close relationship between the parents, and 25.8% had a family history of AAA. The most common symptoms were abdominal pain (92.5%), fever (89.2%), and arthralgia (24.2%) respectively. The most common mutations were R202Q (33.3%), M694V (22.6%), E148Q (22%), V726A (7.5%), R761H (4.3%), M680I (3.8%), and the others (6.5%) respectively. 21.5% homozygous, 67.7% heterozygous, and 10.8% compound heterozygous mutations of AAA were detected. Conclusion: FMF is a common disease in our country and has difficulties in the differential diagnosis. In recent years molecular genetically methods are considered more commonly for the diagnosis. The results of this study showed that our AAA patients have a wide range of mutations, and supported the heterogeneity of MEFV gene mutations in AAA