Demographic, clinical and paraclinic in Behçet patients retrospectiveevaluation of properties

Behçet's Disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by recurrent oral and genital aphthae, ocular disease, skin lesions and various systemic involvement such as gastrointestinal, neurological, vascular or joint. The underlying cause Behçet syndrome is still unknown; infectious, genetic and immunological factors are emphasized. Although the age of onset varies between countries, it is often between 20-40 years of age. The prevelance, sex distribution and involvement of the disease vary geographically. The disease is usually more severe in men. It progresses with exacerbation and recovery periods. Clinical signs tend to regress as age progresses. The aim of this study was frequent in Turkey and physicians should be familiar with each of our patients to follow-up with BH demographic, clinical and paraclinical reviewing the properties and to raise awareness. In this study, the demographic characteristics, clinical and paraclinical data, diagnostic findings and medications of 488 patients diagnosed with BD in the outpatient clinics of the Internal Medicine Department of Rheumatology and Department of Uludag University Faculty of Medicine between 2010 and 2018 were analyzed retrospectively. Of the 488 patients followed up with BD, 299 (61,3%) were male. The ages of the individuals ranged between 19-78; the mean age at the onset of the disease was 30,8±8,8 years, while the mean age was 40,7±9,9 years. Oral aphthae were detected in 96,9% (n=473) and genital ulcers in 58,8% (n=287). While 169 (50,9%) of 332 patients with skin involvement had pseudopholiculitis, 62 (57,4%) of 108 patients with venous involvement had deep vein thrombosis. The most common findings at the time of diagnosis were oral aphthae (30,1%), genital ulcers (27,5%) and ocular involvement (12,5%). Biological treatment was started in 63 patients and 25 of all patients were followed without medication. It was seen that the use of biological agents was more frequent in patients younger than 40 years of age and in patients with ocular involvement. BD is a common systemic vasculitis characterized by multisystemic involvement and presenting with different symptoms and signs. As it may result in morbidity and mortality, biological agents used successfully in the treatment of these patients have a positive effect on the prognosis of the disease. Population-based studies are important because the age of onset of disease, gender distribution and prognosis vary geographically and ethnically. Male sex and early onset of disease are associated with severe disease, and the use of biological agents in this group is supportive of this. Our compilation of data related to common BD in Turkey with this study, we aimed to evaluate treatment options and factors to shed light on our clinical practice. Key words: Behcet's disease, epidemiology, awareness, biological, demographic data