Abstract

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autoimmune chronic systemic inflammatory disease. Adipose tissue (AT) is an endocrine organ that causes systemic inflammation. Systemic inflammation is an important risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. AT beneath the skin is called subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and the AT surrounding internal organs is called visceral adipose tissue (VAT). This study aimed to evaluate whether VAT and SAT areas differed in FMF patients compared to healthy controls and to evaluate the correlations among VAT and SAT areas with cardiovascular risk factors in FMF patients. This study was planned retrospectively. 46 patients in FMF group and 54 patients in control group were included the study. Laboratory data and demographic characteristics were detected from the hospital file system and recorded. The L3 vertebra reference point was selected to standardize the measurement location in all patients. VAT and SAT areas were separately determined as cm2. VAT area was significantly higher in FMF group (p

Key words: Familial mediterranean fever, visceral adipose tissue, subcutaneous adipose tissue, atherosclerotic heart disease