Several new treatment modalities with different mechanisms of action have been studied in patients with Behçet's syndrome (BS). The aim of the current effort was to update the recommendations in the light of these new data under the auspices of the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Standing Committee for Clinical Affairs. A task force was formed that included BS experts from different specialties including internal medicine, rheumatology, ophthalmology, dermatology, neurology, gastroenterology, oral health medicine and vascular surgery, along with a methodologist, a health professional, two patients and two fellows in charge of the systematic literature search. Research questions were determined using a Delphi approach. EULAR standardised operating procedures was used as the framework. Results of the systematic literature review were presented to the task force during a meeting. The former recommendations were modified or new recommendations were formed after thorough discussions followed by voting. The recommendations on the medical management of mucocutaneous, joint, eye, vascular, neurological and gastrointestinal involvement of BS were modified; five overarching principles and a new recommendation about the surgical management of vascular involvement were added. These updated, evidence-based recommendations are intended to help physicians caring for patients with BS. They also attempt to highlight the shortcomings of the available clinical research with the aim of proposing an agenda for further research priorities.

The majority of studies related to major organ involvement that informed the updated EULAR recommendations for the management of BS were observational studies.

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Tel +31 (0)71 5 455 706; Fax +3 1 (0)71 5 455 223 J Dermatolog Treat Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by Freie Universitaet Berlin on 07/01/15 For personal use only. )R Richter et a/ Clindarnycin/tretinoin gel in acne tretinoin in CTG. Irritation, the most frequently reported adverse event, occurred more often in the tretinoin-than in the CTG-treated patients. CONCLUSION: The CTG formulation had an efficacy in moderate to severe acne of the face surpassing that of its individual components in the same gel base. A faster response to CTG than to the component parts indicates that complete clearance of all acne lesions may occur several weeks earlier than with clindamycin or tretinoin. The safety of CTG was considered to be similar to that of clindamycin phosphate and much better than that of tretinoin. (1 Derniatol Treat (1998) 9: 81-90)

The addition of clindamycin to tretinoin, as in CTG, enhances the comedolytic efficacy of tretinoin in moderate to severe acne of the face, maintaining at the same time its anti-inflammatory efficacy thus accelerating resolution of all types of acne lesions without affecting the safety of response to both components.