IN DEALING with a newly established entity before all the facts are at hand, different observers are impressed by different aspects of it, depending often upon personal interest, disregard of published views in some of the 125 pertinent publications, and thoroughness of investigation. For these reasons, much misconception and fallacy pertain to periodic peritonitis. Particularly confusing are the 15 names applied to it:
A paroxysmal syndrome
Armenian Disease
Benign paroxysmal peritonitis
Periodic abdominalgia
Periodic peritonitis
La maladie périodique
La maladie dite périodique
La maladie de Siegal-Cattan-Mamou
La maladie périodique de Reimann
Periodic fever
Epanalepsie Mediterranéene
Familian Mediterranean fever (FMF)
Recurrent polyserositis
Familial recurring polyserositis
Familial paroxysmal polyserositis (FPP) Least desirable are the eponyms and the vivid euphonious names "Epanalepsie Mediterranéene" and "Familial Mediterranean fever" that are geographically restrictive and clinically uninformative. The disorder is worldwide and is not restricted to Armenians, Jews, and Arabs. The noun polyserositis, favored by many,