Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2010 Aug;29(8):823-33.
doi: 10.1007/s10067-010-1430-6. Epub 2010 Mar 31.

Behcet's disease: from East to West

Fereydoun Davatchi  1 , Farhad Shahram, Cheyda Chams-Davatchi, Hormoz Shams, Abdolhadi Nadji, Massoomeh Akhlaghi, Tahereh Faezi, Zahra Ghodsi, Alireza Faridar, Farima Ashofteh, Bahar Sadeghi Abdollahi
Affiliations
Review

Behcet's disease: from East to West

Fereydoun Davatchi et al. Clin Rheumatol. 2010 Aug.

Abstract

Behcet's disease (BD) is classified among vasculitides. There are actually five nationwide surveys of BD: Iran, Japan, China, Korea, and Germany. Among case series, four are on more than 200 cases (Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia, and UK). BD was classically seen around the Silk Route. Now, it is seen everywhere. The male to female ratios were, respectively (in nationwide surveys), 1.19, 0.98, 1.34, 0.63, and 1.40 to 1. The mean age at onset was 26.2, 35.7, 33.8, 29, and 26 years. Major manifestations were seen, respectively, in nationwide surveys: mucous membrane (oral aphthosis in 97%, 98%, 98%, 99%, and 98%; genital aphthosis in 65%, 73%, 76%, 83%, and 64%); skin manifestations (pseudo-folliculitis in 57%, N/A, 31%, N/A, and 62%; erythema nodosum in 22%, N/A, 38%, N/A, and 42%; ocular manifestations in 55%, 69%, 35%, 51%, and 53%). Minor manifestations were seen, respectively, in nationwide surveys: joint manifestations in 33%, 57%, 30%, 38%, and 53%; neurological manifestations in 9%, 11%, 6.5%, 4.6%, and 11%; gastrointestinal manifestations in 7%, 15.5%, 9%, 7.3%, and 12%; vascular involvement in 8.9%, 8.9%, 7.7%, 1.8%, and 13%; pulmonary manifestations in 0.3%, N/A, 2.2%, N/A, and 3.6%; cardiac manifestations in 0.5%, N/A, 4%, N/A, and 3.2%. Laboratory tests are not useful except the pathergy test, which was positive in 54%, 44%, N/A, 40%, and 34% of cases. ESR was normal in many patients. Diagnosis is based upon clinical manifestations. The International Criteria for Behcet's Disease (ICBD, 2006) may be of help, having a sensitivity of 98.2% and a specificity of 95.6% in Iranian patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Dec;58(12):3951-9 - PubMed
    1. J Dtsch Dermatol Ges. 2006 Jan;4(1):49-64; quiz 65-6 - PubMed
    1. Ann Rheum Dis. 1977 Dec;36(6):491-99 - PubMed
    1. Br J Rheumatol. 1995 Sep;34(9):825-30 - PubMed
    1. Rev Med Interne. 2006 Oct;27(10):742-50 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources