[Vascular symptoms of Behcet's disease]

Abstract

Aim: To characterize vascular symptoms of Behcet's disease (BD) in patients treated for the last 10 years in the Institute of Rheumatology.

Material and methods: Vascular symptoms of BD were studied in 151 patients with BD (mean age 33.5 +/- 9.5 years, duration of the disease 14.0 +/- 10.1 years, 104 males and 47 females, 67.4% carried HLA B51(5) antigen). Duplex vascular scanning was made to detect venous thrombosis.

Results: Thrombotic complications were found in 37 of 151 (24.5%) patients with BD (30 males and 7 females, mean age 37.1 +/- 9.1 years, mean duration of the disease 7.3 +/- 9.7 years). Venous thromboses prevailed (36 patients). Four males (2.6%) had arterial lesions: aneurysms of the iliac arteries (n = 1), thrombosis of the iliac artery (n = 1), pulmonary infarction and thrombosis of the pulmonary arteries (n = 2). Combination of venous and arterial manifestations occurred in 3 patients. One patient had thrombosis of the venous sinus, occlusion of the retinal vessels was diagnosed in 7 patients.

Conclusion: Incidence of vascular disorders was observed in 1/4 of the patients. This corresponds to those observed worldwide and concerns venous thrombosis and other thromboses. Among the examinees, vascular disorders were associated with a young age, earlier development of thrombotic complications in males than in females.