Abstract
Behcet's disease is a multisystem vasculitis of unknown etiology. Thoracic lesions are dominated by venous and arterial diseases. We identified 21 cases with a hospital prevalence of Behcet's disease between January 1997 and June 2012. The prevalence was of 0.2%. Hemoptysis was the most common symptom and superior vena cava syndrome was the most common sign. Chest Computerized Tomography (CT) scan had confirmed thrombosis of the superior vena cava in 15 patients, and the pulmonary artery aneurysms in 6 patients, three of them were complicated by thrombosis. Patients followed for thrombosis of the superior vena cava received anticoagulant therapy, corticosteroid and immunosuppressive. The combination of corticosteroids, colchicine and immunosuppressive drugs was prescribed in patients with pulmonary aneurysms before surgical treatment. The authors concluded through this study for the rarity and severity of thoracic manifestations of Behcet's disease. Therapeutic means are limited and the prognosis is poor. Thoracic lesions of Behcet's disease are not rare in Mediterranean countries, diagnosis is easy with CT scan, but there’s a late in treatment. In these cases, prognosis is conditioned by thoracic lesions.
Highlights
Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystem vasculitis that evolves in spurts
Computerized Tomography (CT) scan confirmed the diagnosis of thrombosis in 15 cases (71%) and pulmonary aneurysm in 6 cases (29%), the difference is significant
Thoracic involvement of the BD is dominated by venous and arterial disease reached as is the case in our series and this is noted by several authors [6,7,8]
Summary
Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystem vasculitis that evolves in spurts. It was once part of the great vessels vasculitis, currently it is one of vasculitis vessels of varying size and type [1]. BD is more common in young adults born around the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Chest with include pulmonary infarction, alveolar haemorrhage, thrombosis of the superior vena cava (SVC) and pulmonary aneurysms. Thrombosis of the superior vena cava (SVC) and pulmonary aneurysms are the most common thoracic manifestations and can develop life-threatening. We report 21 cases of thoracic determination in the BD patients hospitalized in ours. The authors emphasize the seriousness of these events
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