The following is a summary of “Influence of Coexisting Familial Mediterranean Fever on Crohn’s Disease, Data From an FMF Endemic Area,” published in the January 2024 issue of Gastroenterology by Kilincalp, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to look at how having family Mediterranean fever (FMF) simultaneously affects the symptoms and course of Crohn’s disease (CD) in a place where FMF is common. CD and FMF are inflammatory diseases that cause stomach pain and fevers that come and go. At this point, They didn’t know what effects simultaneous FMF has on the appearance and course of CD in patients.

Between November 2006 and April 2018, they looked at the medical records of 210 adult CD patients usually seen at a major gastroenterology center. The patients were split into two groups: those with FMF (CD-FMF) and those without FMF (CD-control). How bad CD was judged by how often people had to go to the hospital because of it, how much biological treatment they needed, and whether surgery was done for it.

About 8 out of 210 CD cases (3.8%) also have FMF, which is 35 to 40 times higher than expected in an area where FMF is common. The baseline characteristics of the two groups, including where and how the CD was acting, and their first treatment plans, were identical. The percentage of people with peripheral arthritis was much higher in the CD-FMF group (37.5% vs. 10.4%, P=0.04). A lot more of the CD-FMF patients had biological treatment than the other patients (50% vs. 11.9%; P=0.012). The rates of steroid dependence and hospitalizations due to CD were higher in the CD-FMF group, but not by a large amount (37.5% vs. 15.3% and 62.5% vs. 41.1%, respectively). After looking at the data, they concluded that people who also have FMF tend to have a worse course of CD.

Source: journals.lww.com/jcge/abstract/2024/01000/the_influence_of_coexisting_familial_mediterranean.11.aspx