Background: The etiology of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is unknown. Different environmental and genetic factors have been postulated to contribute to CRPS.
Methods: We reviewed the clinical data from a cohort of 69 patients with CRPS. Four families were identified with two or more members affected with CRPS yielding a total of nine patients. Six more patients reported the presence of pain symptoms in their family members, however; this could not be clinically confirmed.
Results: The case histories of the nine individuals with 'familial' CRPS suggested a younger age at onset and more frequent history of migraine versus the non-familial patients. A pattern of inheritance could not be ascertained.
Conclusion: This data supports the hypothesis that CRPS can be familial and hence may have a genetic basis in some families. Larger studies will be needed to ascertain clearer patterns of inheritance and to determine whether the clinical features of 'familial' CRPS are the same as the sporadic form.