Behcet Syndrome ; complications ; Hemorrhage ; etiology ; Humans ; Pharynx

Polychondritis is an inflammatory disorder that affects various catilagenous structures, and the clinical features include auricular, nasal and respiratory tract chondritis. It also involves the eyes, audiovestibular apparatus, joints and vascular structures. Polychondritis can be associated with several rheumatologic diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis and systemic vasculitis. However, polychondritis is a rare complication of Behcet's disease (BD) and only ten cases with combined BD and polychondritis have been reported on around the world. In this report, we describe a 40-year-old Korean man with BD who suffered from polychondritis that manifested as bilateral auricular chondritis, conjunctivitis and arthritis.
Polychondritis, Relapsing/*complications ; Male ; Humans ; Behcet Syndrome/*complications ; Adult

Behcet Syndrome ; complications ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; complications

Behcet's syndrome is a multi-systemic and chronic disorder that affects many organs. It has been suggested that the diagnosis was based on the presence of the 'major' and 'minor' clinical criteria. When thromobophlebitis, arthritis, central nervous system or gastrointestinal lesions are also present. Behcet's syndrome will be thought to be present in the appropriate geographic area. We report a case of superior vena cava syndrome caused by Behcet's disease in a 40-year-old man with recurrent oral aphthous ulcers and skin rashes on the anterior chest wall. There were multiple thrombosis of the superior vena cava, innominate and subclavian veins. This patient also had a solitary cecal ulcer with an ileocecal fistula and downhill varix. The chest CT, veno-cavography, pulmonary angiography and colon study were taken and follow-up was performed.
Adult ; Behcet's Syndrome/diagnosis ; Behcet's Syndrome/complications* ; Cecal Diseases/complications ; Human ; Intestinal Fistula/complications ; Male ; Superior Vena Cava Syndrome/etiology* ; Superior Vena Cava Syndrome/diagnosis ; Ulcer/complications

Behcet's disease occurs with a high prevalence in the Far East including Korea. In this report we inspected 1,155 patients with Behcet's disease and collected information concerning the clinical and epidemiologic features of Behcet's disease in Korea. In summary, patients in their 30s were the most common, with the most common age of onset in the 20s; the sex ratio was 0.63:1 with female predominance; according to revised Shimizu's classification, the order of frequency of the different types was incomplete (38.2%), suspected (25.4%), possible (20.3%) and complete (16.1%); oral ulcers were the most frequent major symptom (97.5%) and the most common initial symptom (78.5%); erythema nodosum-like lesion (55.3%) was the most common type of skin lesion; a seasonal aggravation of the disease was observed in 21.3% of patients; and the most common type of childhood onset Behcet's disease was suspected type.
Adolescence ; Adult ; Age Distribution ; Aged ; Behcet's Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Behcet's Syndrome/complications ; Behcet's Syndrome/classification ; Child ; Female ; Human ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Age ; Sex Distribution

Adult ; Behcet Syndrome ; complications ; Female ; Heart Atria ; pathology ; Humans ; Myocardial Infarction ; complications ; Pericardial Effusion ; complications

A 40-year-old male patient was referred to our department with complains of recurrent oral ulcer for more than 20 years and vulvar ulcer for more than 10 years. He presented with a 3-month history of right external ophthalmoplegia. More than 10 days ago, the patient received ganglioside infusion. And one week ago, he developed numbness and pain of his lambs, and progressive myasthenia, accompanied by right blepharoptosis and dysuria. On exam, motor strength was graded 0/5 in the lower and the upper extremities. Deep tendon reflexes were diminished in extremities. His admission medical examination: hemoglobin (HGB), white cell and platelet counts were normal. C-reactive protein (CRP) was negative. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) 53 mm/h. Antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-dsDNA antibody, anti-Smith antibody, anti-cardiolipin antibody and human leucocyte antigen B51 were all within normal range. The etiological tests of influenza A pathogen, influenza B pathogen, parainfluenza virus, enterovirus and parvovirus were all negative. He tested positive for serum anti-GM1 IgG. Cerebrospinal fluid had a normal white cell count, an elevated protein content. Gram staining, culture and PCR detection for varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus were all negative. Antibodies associated with autoimmune encephalitis and paraneoplastic syndrome were negative in cerebrospinal fluid. Electromyography and nerve conduction studies showed a severe axonal damage affecting motor nerves. No obvious abnormalities were observed in his magnetic resonance imaging of brain and cavernous sinus. The patient was diagnosed with Behcet syndrome complicated with acute Guillain-Barré syndrome. He received intravenous methylprednisolone, intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy, plasma exchange and rituximab treatment. After treatment, the patient's muscle strength of limbs was restored to grade 1, blepharoptosis and pain disappeared. The nervous system involvement of Behcet syndrome is relatively rare, especially combined with Guillain-Barré syndrome, which is easy to cause misdiagnosis. The treatment of Behcet syndrome complicated with acute Guillain-Barré syndrome includes the treatment of primary disease, plasma exchange and IVIg therapy. In addition, supportive treatment is very important for such patients. The focus of treatment is to avoid respiratory insufficiency, prevent deep vein thrombosis, monitor cardiac function and hemodynamics. Pain-relieving, physical exercise and psychological support are often under-recognized. The rehabilitation treatment is very important to improve the prognosis and quality of life of patients. What we need to learn is that when the symptoms and signs of the nervous system are difficult to be explained by neuro-Behcet syndrome alone, we should be alert to the possibility of other nervous system diseases.
Adult ; Animals ; Behcet Syndrome/complications* ; Guillain-Barre Syndrome ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins, Intravenous ; Male ; Methylprednisolone ; Quality of Life ; Sheep

Adolescent ; Arterial Occlusive Diseases ; complications ; Behcet Syndrome ; complications ; Humans ; Hypertension ; etiology ; Hypertensive Encephalopathy ; etiology ; Male

Malignant lymphoma complicated by Behcet's disease (BD) is a rare clinical entity. We report a case of BD complicated by malignant lymphoma in a 26-year-old male patient. The patient was diagnosed to have terminal ileum extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (nasal type) during treatment for BD with cyclophosphamide (CTX), immunoregulants and biological agents. This is the first case reported in China and the second case globally. The pathogenesis of BD complicated by malignant lymphoma remains unclear. We reviewed the relevant literatures to summarize the clinical characteristics of BD complicated by extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma (nasal type) and discuss the possible pathogenesis in light of immunology, EB virus infection and medications.
Adult ; Behcet Syndrome ; complications ; Humans ; Lymphoma, Extranodal NK-T-Cell ; complications ; Male

The German Registry of Adamantiades-Behcet's disease was founded in 1990 in Berlin and it provides current data on the epidemiology, the clinical manifestations and the course of the disease in Germany on a continuous basis. A total of 218 patients, including 89 German and 100 Turkish patients, had been reported to the German Registry until October 1997. One hundred and ninety-six patients fulfilled the criteria of the Behcet's disease classification tree. The prevalence of the disease evaluated in Berlin-West was 1.68/100,000 in 1989 and had risen to 2.26/100,000 by 1994. The median age of onset was 25 years (range 5 to 66 years; German-Turks, ns). Juvenile disease was recorded in 6.9% of patients. The complete clinical picture according to the criteria of the International Study Group of Behcet's Disease developed in 15.5 months. The interval between onset of the disease and diagnosis was 35 months, which was significantly longer than the duration of the development of the complete clinical picture (p < 0.0001). The disease was diagnosed later in German (48.5 months) than in Turkish patients (25.5 months, p = 0.003). While German patients presented an equal male-to-female ratio, a male predominance was shown in Turkish patients (M:F 2.1:1, p = 0.022). Familial occurrence was detected in 2.0% of German and 15.9% of Turkish patients (p = 0.013). The frequencies of major clinical manifestations were: oral ulcers 99%, skin lesions 76%, genital ulcers 75%, ocular manifestations 59%, arthritis 59%, and positive pathergy test 52%. Clinical differences between German and Turkish patients were only found in the frequency of ocular lesions (48% vs. 66%, p = 0.025). Oral ulcers were with 72% the most common onset symptom of the disease followed by erythema nodosum (9%), uveitis (7%), arthritis (7%), genital ulcers (3%), superficial thrombophlebitis (2%) and papules/sterile pustules (2%). Uveitis and erythema nodosum as onset symptoms shortened the median interval to diagnosis to 1.5 and 15 months, respectively, while arthritis delayed diagnosis (43.5 months; p = 0.029). A severe course developed in 25% of the patients; irreversible retinal vasculitis to blindness in 15%, sterile meningoencephalitis in 8%, severe arthritis in 5%, hemoptysis in 2%, lethal outcome in 2% and bowel perforation in 1%. The relative risk of HLA-B5 positive German natives developing the disease. HLA-B5 was confirmed as a marker of severe prognosis. Cardiolipin autoantibodies were associated with cutaneous vasculitis and superficial thrombophlebitis was correlated with systemic vessel involvement.
Adolescence ; Adult ; Aged ; Behcet's Syndrome/epidemiology* ; Behcet's Syndrome/complications ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Europe/epidemiology ; Female ; Germany/epidemiology ; Human ; Male ; Middle Age ; Prognosis