Joint manifestations in Behcet's disease - A review of 340 cases

Objectives. To gain additional knowledge on the joint manifestations of Behcet's disease, with special attention to unusual forms. Patients and methods. Retrospective review of 340 cases with joint manifestations. identified among 601 cases of Behcet's disease seen over a 15-year period. All the patients met International Study Group for Behcet's disease criteria. Radiographs of all joints with arthritis were obtained. Starting ten years ago, a radiograph of the sacroiliac joint was taken routinely. Results. Joint manifestations were present in more than half the patients (56.57%) and were inaugural in 18.23% of cases. The knees and ankles were the joints most commonly affected. Monoarthritis and oligoarthritis were seen in 16.17% and 11.76% of cases, respectively and polyarthritis involving the large limb joints and the small joints of the hands and feet in 17.05% of cases. Unusual forms included polyarthritis with deformities and/or destruction (n: 8, including two patients who also met criteria for rheumatoid arthritis), pseudogout (n: 5), popliteal cyst (n: 3, including one case imitating deep vein thrombosis), myositis (n: 1), spondylarthropathy (n: 5), and Sjogren's syndrome (n: 2). Children were more likely than adults to have joint manifestations (73.68%) and polyarthritis (35.7%). Conclusion. Joint manifestations are common in Behcet's disease. Their unusual forms deserve to be known since they can raise diagnostic problems when they are inaugural.