Effect of pregnancy on renal function in amyloidosis of familial Mediterranean fever.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of pregnancy on kidney function in patients with familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) with amyloidosis. METHODS: A retrospective analysis relating kidney function at term to kidney function at conception and to blood pressure and colchicine treatment before and during pregnancy in 17 patients with 29 pregnancies found among more than 3000 patient files in our FMF clinic. RESULTS: Following pregnancy, 7 patients (24% of pregnancies) experienced a decline in renal function. Urine protein > or = 2 g/24 h at conception was present in all pregnancies which sustained deterioration in contrast to 6 of 22 which did not (p or = 1.5 mg/dl at conception was present in 3 patients, all of whom experienced deterioration of renal function during pregnancy (p < 0.01). Neither colchicine dose nor elevated blood pressure correlated with status of renal function at term. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest a possible deleterious effect of pregnancy on amyloid nephropathy and that this effect may be associated with more advanced renal disease at conception.