Influence of age of onset and patient's sex on the prevalence and severity of manifestations of Behcet's syndrome.

Abstract

SUMMARY Eye disease, arthritis, folliculitis, and thrombophlebitis were more common among males, and erythema nodosum among females, in 297 patients with Behqet's syndrome (BS) at their first visit despite an identical disease duration. Younger males and females (age of onset 24 years or less) had a higher prevalence of eye disease and total clinical activity than did the older patients (age of onset 25 years or more). Among the 51 patients followed up for 52 months (SD 7 months) the total clinical activity became significantly less (p<O0O5) in the whole group at the end of this period. This was particularly true for older females. While male sex and a younger age of onset are associated with more severe disease in BS, overall, the syndrome ran an improving or stable course over 41/2 years.

Epidemiology and clinical course of Behçet's disease in the Reggio Emilia area of Northern Italy: A seventeen‐year population‐based study

“…In a hospital-based series, KuralSeyahi et al (7) observed an increased mortality in patients with BD, in particular among young males, which tended to decrease with the passage of time. However, in agreement with our data, 2 other studies reported no increase in mortality in patients with BD (42,43). Turning to morbidity, we looked specifically at inflammatory ocular disease, because this is both a frequent and a potentially serious complication of BD with a significant risk of visual loss (1,2).…”

Amyloidosis in behçet's syndrome

“…We have found only 27 reported cases of Behset's syndrome and amyloidosis, which includes our 5 patients. Twentyfive of these patients were men, confirming our previous observation that Behset's disease is generally more severe among men (7). The duration between the first symptoms of Behqet's disease and the emergence of amyloidosis vaned considerably among our 5 patients (Table I); this has also been reported by others (3).…”

“…The total clinical activity index of Behget's syndrome was calculated for each patient as described previously (7). Briefly, this activity index is a weighted score of only clinical symptoms and signs related to various organ systems, with 0 denoting no involvement.…”

Reply

“…Seyahi and Yazici for their interest in our work regarding the interplay between BD and pregnancy and for bringing new elements to the discussion. A reduction in BD activity associated with the passage of time has been previously reported (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Seyahi and Yazici suggest that shorter disease duration might account for the lower frequency of BD flares that we observed in our patients during pregnancy.…”

“…It is well recognized that BD becomes less severe with the passage of time (2). Thus, the inherent disease course in these patients is another factor that might have influenced the smaller number of flares during pregnancies.…”