* Corresponding Author;
Address: Division of Pediatric Rheumatology, Children’s Medical Center, No 62, Dr Gharib St., Keshavarz Blvd, Tehran, Iran
E-mail: ziaee@tums.ac.ir
© ʹͲͳ͵ by Pediatrics Center of Excellence, Children’s Medical Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, All rights reserved.
Iran J Pediatr; Vol 24 (No 1), Feb 2014
Published by: Tehran University of Medical Sciences (http://ijp.tums.ac.ir)
Periodic Fever: A Review on Clinical, Management and Guideline for Iranian
Patients - Part I
Zahra Ahmadinejad
1
, MD; Sedigeh Mansori
1
, MD; Vahid Ziaee*
2,3,4
, MD; Neda Alijani
1
, MD; Yahya Aghighi
3
, MD;
Nima Parvaneh
5,3
, MD; Mohammad-Hassan Mordinejad
6,3
, MD
1
Department of Infectious Diseases, Imam Khomeini Hospital,
2
Pediatric Rheumatology Research Group, Rheumatology Research
Center,
3
Department of Pediatrics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences,
4
Children’s Medical Center, Pediatrics Center of
Excellence,
5
Pediatric Infectious Diseases Research Center,
6
Growth & Development Research Center, Tehran University of Medical
Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Received: Jan 10, 2013; Accepted: Sep 13, 2013; First Online Available: Nov 16, 2013
Abstract
Periodic fever syndromes are a group of diseases characterized by episodes of fever with healthy intervals
between febrile episodes. The first manifestation of these disorders are present in childhood and adolescence,
but infrequently it may be presented in young and middle ages. Genetic base has been known for all types of
periodic fever syndromes except periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, and cervical adenitis
(PFAPA). Common periodic fever disorders are Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) and PFAPA. In each
patient with periodic fever, acquired infection with chronic and periodic nature should be ruled out. It
depends on epidemiology of infectious diseases. Some of them such as Familial Mediterranean fever and
PFAPA are common in Iran. In Iran and other Middle East countries, brucellosis, malaria and infectious
mononucleosis should be considered in differential diagnosis of periodic fever disorders especially with fever
and arthritis manifestation. In children, urinary tract infection may be presented as periodic disorder, urine
analysis and culture is necessary in each child with periodic symptoms. Some malignancies such as leukemia
and tumoral lesions should be excluded in patients with periodic syndrome and weight loss in any age. After
excluding infection, malignancy and cyclic neutropenia, FMF and PFAPA are the most common periodic fever
disorders. Similar to other countries, Hyper IgD, Chronic Infantile Neurologic Cutaneous and Articular, TRAPS
and other auto-inflammatory syndromes are rare causes of periodic fever in Iranian system registry. In part 1
of this paper we reviewed the prevalence of FMF and PFAPA in Iran. In part 2, some uncommon auto-
inflammatory disorders such as TRAPS, Hyper IgD sydrome and cryopyrin associated periodic syndromes will
be reviewed.
Iranian Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 24 (Number 1), February 2014, Pages: 1-13
Key Words: Periodic Fever; Familial Mediterranean Fever; PFAPA; Hyper IgD; TRAPS
Introduction
Periodic fever syndromes are a group of diseases
characterized by episodes of fever with healthy
intervals between febrile episodes. These
disorders are self-limited and improve
spontaneously without specific therapy. Episodes
of fever are usually associated with presence of
inflammation in different parts of the body such as
peritoneum, pleural spaces, testis, etc. with
elevated serum acute phase reactants level. These
diseases should be differentiated from infections,
malignancies and other autoimmune disorders
[1]
.
Existence of family history of periodic fever and
Clinical Approach
Iran J Pediatr
Feb 2014; Vol 24 (No 1), Pp: 1-13