Three patients with familial Mediterranean fever: a possible underdiagnosed entity in Japan.

[familial mediterranean fever]

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF ) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by periodic fever and serosal inflammation . FMF is mostly reported in the Mediterranean region and is considered to be rare in Japan with estimated 292 cases . We treated three unrelated FMF patients in one year in a city with 144 ,000 residents . Two of the three patients were over 70 years old . FMF may therefore be underdiagnosed in Japan .