Venous lesions in Behçet's disease

Objectives:Review of venous lesions in Behçet's disease (BD).Design:Retrospective study.Setting:University Hospital, Turkey.Materials and Methods:One hundred and twenty nine patients with BD diagnosed and treated in our hospital during the last 10 years were reviewed. Fifty-two patients with 54 vascular lesions of Behçet's disease were identified.Main Results:The incidence of isolated venous lesions in BD was 26%. Venous lesions developed after the initial diagnosis of BD in all patients within 10 years. Thirty-four (63%) of the 54 vascular lesions were venous and 15 (28%) were arterial. In 5 (9%) patients, both arterial and venous lesions were present. Deep vein thrombosis was the most frequent lesion (76%), followed by superficial thrombophlebitis (10%), superior vena cava thrombosis (10%) and inferior vena cava thrombosis (2%) and varicose veins (2%).Conclusions:Venous lesions are not rare and affect the prognosis of BD. For this reason, venous lesions of BD should always be sought at follow-up of patients with BD