ABSTRACT
Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF) is the most common autoinflammatory disease characterized by recurrent fever and attacks of polyserositis, arthritis, erysipelas-like erythema. Colchicine;has been the main therapeutic agent in FMF patients since 1972. The Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) was first identified in a group of patients with respiratory symptoms in Wuhan, China, and affected the whole world.This study aims to evaluate the possible correlation between the frequency and severity of FMF attacks and COVID-19 symptoms after colchicine use in FMF patients with pathogenic/likely pathogenic MEFV mutation(s) during the pandemic. We included FMF patients who applied to Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University Hospital, Medical Genetics Department between 01.01.2010-15.03.2020 and having variable. Pathogenic/likely pathogenic MEFV mutations detected by variable methods (pyrosequencing, NGS, Sanger sequencing, fragment analysis, real-time PCR, etc.). A 19-question questionnaire was created online via Google Drive and the questionnaire link was sent to patients' mobile phone via SMS. The responses received until 31.12.2020 were evaluated and analyzed with the IBM SPSS Statistics 25. Permission was obtained from the local ethics committee and the ethics committee of the Ministry of Health to conduct this research. We obtained 110 responses that met the research criteria. The number of patients with COVID-19 symptoms was 13(%11.8). While there was no statistically significant difference in frequency and severity of attacks between the groups of patients with and without symptoms of COVID-19, a significant difference was found in the need to increase the colchicine dose. Furthermore, while the rate of patients who had an FMF attack (n=45)(46.4%) and who didn't (n=52)(53.6%) was close to each other in those without symptoms, the rate of patients who had an attack was significantly higher with symptoms (n=12)(92.3%). It is reported that the symptoms in FMF and COVID-19 diseases may have arisen as a result of similar inflammatory responses. Although the frequency and severity of attacks did not change among our patients with COVID-19 symptoms, the need to increase the colchicine dose and the higher rate of individuals who had an attack may be due to this clinical similarity. There are also reports on the use of colchicine in individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. Due to the small number of participants and the inability to clearly evaluate other factors that may affect the course of the disease, more comprehensive studies are needed on this subject.