[Periodic disease and periarteritis nodosa in the same patient: coincidence?].
Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) chiefly affects patients of Arabic, Jewish, Armenian or Turkish origin and takes the form of recurrent episodes of peritonitis, arthritis or pleurisy. Periarteritis nodosa (PAN) is a vasculitis affecting elderly people and manifested by a general deterioration, unexplained fever and peripheral neuropathy or muscular weakness. We describe a patient presenting both diseases. Ours is the seventh reported case associating these two affections. This association was suspected by SACHS and co-workers who discovered an increased frequency of PAN in patients with FMF compared to the expected rate for the whole population (7). These observations warrant a search for PAN in young patients affected by FMF and showing signs of vasculitis.