Dysphagia in Behçet's syndrome.

In 1937, Behget, a Turkish dermatologist, described a clinical entity characterized by ulceration affecting the mouth and genitals together with severe iritis. This classical triad also goes under the name of the 'triple symptom complex'. The manifestations are episodic, the history extending over several years, and at any one time during an exacerbation of the illness there may be only one symptom of the triad present. In subsequent years, in addition to the three features described by Behcet, the involvement of other systems has been described. Boe, Dalgaard, and Scott (1958) and Ramsay (1967) reported in patients with the oral ulceration of Beh9et's syndrome similar ulceration affecting other parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Mason and Barnes (1968), Oshima, Shimizu, Yokohari, Matsumoto, Kano, Kagami, and Nagaya (1963), and Strachan and Wigzell (1963) found joint manifestations in the form of a spontaneously resolving polyarthritis. Involvement of the lungs (Decroix, 1969), major and peripheral blood vessels (Hills, 1967; Pallis and Fudge, 1956; Mowat and Hothersall, 1969; Mamo and Baghdassarian, 1964), and also of the central nervous system (Kawakita, Nishimura, Satoh, and Shibata, 1967; Fowler, Humpston, Nussey, and Small, 1968; Pallis and Fudge, 1956) may be present. Because of the various presentations described above, Berlin (1960) suggested that the disease should no longer be called the 'triple symptom complex' and put forward the alternative of 'Behget's multiple symptom complex'. Mason and Barnes (1968) consider that the symptom complex may be present in a complete or incomplete form; in the former, the oral and genital manifestations are combined with the ophthalmological lesions;