A disease must be considered in the differential diagnosis of ascites: familial Mediterranean fever.

Five female patients were admitted to our clinic between 2002 and 2004 with ascites of unknown etiology. In all of the casDear Sir, Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is an autosomal recessive disease which most commonly occurs in Sephardic Jews, Armenians, Arabs and Turks. FMF is characterized by recurrent and self-limited attacks of fever accompanied by peritonitis, pleuritis, sinovitis or erysipelas-like erythema [1, 2] . Inflammation of all serosal membranes can be seen during attacks, such as pleuritis, sinovitis and pericarditis. Small amounts of peritoneal fluid are often seen at laparoscopy of FMF patients. This finding reflects a peritoneal reaction Published online: February 15, 2008