Behcet's disease - Infliximab in the treatment of mucocutaneous manifestations

Behcet's disease (BD) is chronic, relapsing and multisystem inflammatory disorder, whose diagnosis is essentially clinical. In recent studies, the antagonists of tumor necrosis factor alpha have shown good results in the treatment of mucocutaneous manifestations of BD. The authors describe three cases of BD with serious mucocutaneous involvement treated with infliximab. Clinical case 1: A 16-year-old female patient with an 8-year history of severe bipolar aphtosis. A rapid clinical response to biological therapy was verified, with partial and total remission of ulcers at 2(nd) and 6(th) week of treatment, respectively. Clinical Case 2: A 56-year-old female patient with chronic nodular panniculitis of lower limbs, arthralgias and orogenital ulceration. After 6 weeks of treatment with infliximab, a complete clinical remission was observed. Clinical case 3: A 50-year-old female with a 15-year history of relapsing oropharyngeal ulceration. A good clinical response to biologic therapy was observed. At 22(nd) week it was interrupted because frequent dental abscesses. In our experience, infliximab is an effective therapeutic alternative that should be considered in the presence of mucocutaneous manifestations resistant to conventional therapies.