The level of awareness of the medical community with Marshall syndrome (PFAPA)

Abstract

Syndrome of periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, adenitis (PFAPA - periodic fever, aphthous stomatitis, pharyngitis, adenitis), known as Marshall syndrome (SM.). In Ukraine, with its child population of about 7.6 million. it should prognostically be established in at least several thousand cases, but reports of such children are only sporadic, attesting to diagnostic problems.

Aim - to evaluate the level of knowledge of doctors of certain specialties regarding the diagnosis of SM and finding a way to improve the efficiency of its management.

Materials and methods. An anonymous survey of 157 residents and interns of the Ternopil region of Ukraine was conducted regarding the diagnosis of SM and its management using a written questionnaire followed by statistical processing. Exclusion criteria were the absence of answers or the number of answers to at least one of the questions asked was greater than the suggested number. Therefore, 139 questionnaires were taken into analysis, among which 56 (40.29%) were provided by specialist doctors and 83 (59.71%) by intern doctors.

Results. The analysis of the answers showed difficulties not only with establishing the correct diagnosis, but also with its diagnosis and treatment tactics both among specialists with experience and among interns. About quarter of the residents (13/56 (23.21%)) and only 8/83 (9.64%) of the interns decided on the treatment tactics of the patient in accordance with the described clinical picture and the specified diagnosis, which testified to a lack of understanding of the pathogenetic bases of SM. Despite the fact that the clinical symptoms of MS most interns (67/83; 80.72%) are known and they recognized it based on the description provided by the questionnaire. The biggest difficulties arose in both groups when solving the issue of planning preventive measures in the inter-attack period.

Conclusions. Thus, the analysis of the conducted survey revealed a lack of knowledge about MS, its diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. Autoinflammatory diseases need their place in modern programs of university training and especially postgraduate education in the continuous professional development system in order to direct the vector of medical opinion clearly in the direction of the correct clinical diagnosis.

The research was carried out in accordance with the principles of the Helsinki Declaration. The study protocol was approved by the Local Ethics Committee of all participating institutions. The informed consent of the patient was obtained for conducting the studies.

No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.