Familial Mediterranean fever and growth: Effect of disease severity and colchicine treatment

Objective: To evaluate the effect of disease severity and colchicine treatment on height and weight parameters in children with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). Methods: Thirty prepubertal children (19 M, 11 F) were studied retrospectively. Z-score values of height, growth velocity, weight and body mass index were obtained over 1.84 +/- 1.14 years before and 2.58 +/- 1.55 years during colchicine therapy. Disease severity was evaluated by a specific score for FMF. Results: By comparison to growth before treatment, during colchicine therapy height SDS increased from -1.00 +/- 1.17 to -0.54 +/- 0.96 (p < 0.001) and weight SDS increased from -0.74 +/- 1.09 to -0.47 +/- 1.06 (p = 0.008). An effect of disease severity on growth pattern could not be detected. Height SDS during therapy was negatively correlated with age at colchicine initiation. Conclusions: Colchicine therapy has a positive effect on both height and weight parameters in children with FMF. Early initiation of treatment is beneficial for height gain.