ABSTRACT
Medically unexplained physical symptoms are common disorders in pediatric practice. The periodic syndromes (PS) are one of the most recurrent complaints in so-called ‘‘pain-prone’’ children (1).
According to Arav-Boger and Spirer (2), the PS are a group of disorders characterized by limited periods of illness that recur regularly for years in otherwise healthy individuals. Periods of similar duration, a benign course, onset in infancy with persistence for years are the most common characteristics. These disorders may be divided into two major categories: periodic fever syndromes (familial Mediterranean fever, hyperimmunoglobulinemia, periodic fever, hereditary angioedema, cyclic neutropenia, Behcet’s syndrome, and familial periodic paralysis) and PS without fever [cyclical vomiting (CV), recurrent abdominal pain (RAP), recurrent headaches, benign paroxysmal vertigo (BPV), and recurrent limb pain]. There is no detectable organic cause for these disorders, and most are expressions of reaction to stress, depression, poor psychosocial adjustment, or negative life events. Moreover, patients may pass from one syndrome to another, during a long follow-up period.
