Inflammation and cardiovascular disease in familial Mediterranean fever. An analysis of hospital admissions for acute cardiovascular event

OBJECTIVES: Patients, suffering from inflammatory disorders, are at an increased risk to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here, we examine whether in familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a model of inflammatory diseases, inflammation also increases the risk to develop cardiovascular (CV) disease. METHODS: To explore the role of inflammation in the occurrence of CVD in FMF, we identified all FMF patients ≤55 years old with CVD, admitted to our center over a 15-year period. Correlates of inflammation, such as severity of FMF and dose of colchicine, as well as the presence of traditional CV risk factors were compared between the FMF patients with CVD (FMF- CVD) and control FMF patients with- out CVD. RESULTS: Twenty-three FMF-CVD and 40 control patients were compared. The severity of FMF, and the dose of colchicine, were similar in the 2 study groups; therefore, not associated with CVD. Compared with FMF patients without CVD, the FMF-CVD group comprised a higher proportion of men (78 vs. 40% p=0.005), and of patients with diabetes (31 vs. 7%, p=0.016) and inflammatory comorbidities such as Behçet's disease (30 vs. 7%, p=0.005). Multivariate analysis revealed that only diabetes mellitus and inflammatory comorbidities were independent factors associated with FMF-CVD. CONCLUSIONS: In FMF patients treated with colchicine, CVD is not associated with FMF-related inflammation.