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Canakinumab treatment in children with familial Mediterranean fever: report from a single center

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Abstract

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), the most common hereditary autoinflammatory disorder is characterized by recurrent episodes of fever, serositis, arthritis. The major long-term result is amyloidosis. Colchicine remains the principle of the treatment; it not only prevents the acute attacks but also prevents the long-term complications such as amyloidosis; 5–10% of the patients are unresponsive to treatment. Recently new therapeutic options as anti-interleukin 1 agents are successfully used for the patients who do not respond to colchicine treatment. In this study, we retrospectively evaluated 11 pediatric colchicine-resistant FMF patients who were treated with canakinumab. Three of the patients had amyloidosis and two had uveitis. Based on our results, we suggest that canakinumab may be a safe and effective therapy in patients who are resistant to colchicine and even in the patients with amyloidosis. We also suggest that canakinumab might be a safe option for the patients with uveitis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Nephrology Department, Ankara Dr. Sami Ulus Maternity and Children Hospital, Babur Caddesi No. 44, Altındağ, 06080, Ankara, Turkey

    Fatma Yazılıtaş & Evrim Kargın Çakıcı

  2. Pediatric Nephrology and Rheumatology Department, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey

    Özlem Aydoğ

  3. Pediatric Nephrology Department, Medical School, Yildirim Beyazit University, Yenimahalle, Ankara, Turkey

    Sare Gülfem Özlü

  4. Pediatric Nephrology and Rheumatology Department, Ankara Dr. Sami Ulus Maternity and Children Hospital, Babur Caddesi No. 44, Altındağ, Ankara, Turkey

    Tülin Güngör, Fehime Kara Eroğlu, Gökçe Gür & Mehmet Bülbül

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  1. Fatma Yazılıtaş
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  2. Özlem Aydoğ
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  3. Sare Gülfem Özlü
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Contributions

Study conception and design: FY and OA. Acquisition of data: contribution of all authors. Analysis and interpretation of data: FY and SGÖ. Drafting of manuscript: FY and MB. Critical revision: contribution of all authors.

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Correspondence to Fatma Yazılıtaş.

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Yazılıtaş, F., Aydoğ, Ö., Özlü, S.G. et al. Canakinumab treatment in children with familial Mediterranean fever: report from a single center. Rheumatol Int 38, 879–885 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-018-3993-5

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