Amyloidosis in children with familial Mediterranean fever.

The clinical and laboratory findings of 35 children with familial Mediterranean fever who developed amyloidosis are described. The types, frequency, and severity of attacks of familial Mediterranean fever in these children were no different from patients with this disease without amyloidosis. Although amyloid was widely deposited in all tissues, the major clinical manifestations of the amyloidosis were proteinuria, the nephrotic syndrome, and progressive renal failure. Only 20% of the patients were alive 5 years after the first appearance of proteinuria.