Deep vein thrombosis in Behçet's disease.

OBJECTIVE We aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical aspects of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in Behçet's disease (BD) and to determine the patients at high risk for this complication. METHODS Among 113 patients with BD according to the international criteria for classification of BD, those with DVT were retrospectively studied. The diagnosis of DVT was made in all cases using conventional venous angiography, venous ultrasonography and/or thoracic or abdominal computed tomography. Patients were divided in two subgroups according to the occurrence of DVT other than cerebral thromboses. The medical records of these patients were reviewed in order to investigate their past medical history and evaluate their response to the treatment prescribed. Clinical and genetic factors (HLA B51 and MICA 6) that might contribute to DVT were analysed by comparing patients with and without DVT. Results of our series were compared to those of other series in the literature. Statistical analysis was by Chi square with necessary correction and Fischer tests. RESULTS Forty-four patients (38.9%) had deep vein thrombosis of various systems with 81 localisations. There were 40 men and four women (mean age 28.1 years; range 17-60). DVT appeared after the onset of disease with a mean delay of 3.8 years. In 6 cases, DVT revealed BD. When we evaluated the risk of DVT coexistence with other clinical findings and genetic factors (HLA B51 and MICA 6), we found a significant positive correlation with sex, and positive pathergy test. CONCLUSION In our series, occurrence of DVT was significantly associated with male gender and positive pathergy test.