Incidence of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) mutations among children of Mediterranean extraction with functional abdominal pain.

Of 59 Sephardic Jewish and Arab children in whom functional abdominal pain was diagnosed, we found that 20% were homozygote for the familial Mediterranean fever gene. Inclusion of genetic screening for familial Mediterranean fever may be advisable in the investigation of recurrent abdominal pain among children of Mediterranean extraction.