Venous lesions in Behcet's disease

Abstract

Objectives: Review of venous lesions in Behcet's disease (ED). Design: Retrospective study. Setting: University Hospital Turkey. Materials and Methods: One hundred and twenty nine patients with ED diagnosed and treated in our hospital during the last 10 years were reviewed. Fifty-two patients with 54 vascular lesions of Behcet's disease were identified. Main Results: The incidence of isolated venous lesions in ED was 26%. Venous lesions developed after the initial diagnosis of ED in all patients within 10 years. Thirty-four (63%) of the 54 vascular lesions were venous and 15 (28%) were arterial. In 5 (9%) patients, both arterial and venous lesions were present. Deep vein thrombosis was the most frequent lesion (76%), followed by superficial thrombophlebitis (10%), superior vena cava thrombosis (10%) and inferior vena cava thrombosis (2%) and varicose veins (2%). Conclusions: Venous lesions are nor rave and affect the prognosis of ED. For this reason, venous lesions of BD should always be sought at follow-up of patients with ED.