PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY IN BEHÇET'S DISEASE: CLINICAL AND NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Behcet’s disease (BD) is a chronic idiopathic relapsing condition, whereas multiple organs are affected as a sequential effect of the vascular and inflammatory process. Based on the neurophysiological studies, 20-40% of BD patients may have silent neurological involvement (SNI) with no or very mild clinical manifestations. Objectives: Assessing clinically and electro physiologically the prevalence of symptomatic and asymptomatic peripheral neuropathy (PN) among BD patients along with the potential predictors of PN among BD patients. Patients and Methods: All patients with clinically established BD according to the International Criteria for Behcet's Disease (ICBD) were involved in the current study. All patients were submitted to clinical evaluation, neuropathy symptom score (NSS) along with electrophysiological nerve conduction studies including sensory and motor nerve conduction assessment. Results: An overall 30 participants who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study. There were 22 (73.3%) males and 8 (26.7%) females with a mean age of 37.9±8.31 years. Based on the electrophysiological studies, 16 (53.3%) patients had the evidence of peripheral neuropathy in the terms of mixed (23.3%), motor (6.6%), and sensory (23.3%) nerve affection. The most affected peripheral nerve was sural nerve (46.6%) succeeded by peroneal (43.3%) and ulnar (20%) nerves. The univariate regression model showed that the age of the patients and the duration of the disease were independent predictors of peripheral neuropathy. Conclusion: PN is a considerable complication of BD, whereby health care providers should employ a routine follow up protocol for early detection of even the subclinical PN.