Statistical Studies on 60 Patients of Behçet’s Disease in Dermatological Department of Kitasato University Hospital

Abstract

We analyzed the clinical statistics from 60 Behçet’s disease（BD）patients（33 males and 27 females）who visited the dermatological department of Kitasato University Hospital from 1983 to 2004. The average age of appearance of disease was 39 years old. Twelve patients had the complete type of BD, and 48 had the incomplete type of BD. Oral aphtosis and skin eruption were seen in about 98% of cases. About 70% suflered from genital ulcers, and 45%, from ocular involvement. As skin eruptions, about 60% had papulopustular lesions and erythema nodosum. The rate of positivity for HLA-B51 was 55.9%.These frequencies corresponded well to current reports. Although the usual treatments for the disease were NSAIDs and colchicines, the rate of using steroid showed a tendency to increase. We compared the type of treatment with each classification. There was no significant correlation between severity of symptoms and steroid use. We also searched for cases who had been able to be observed for ten years or more. There were no cases in whom the disease activity had continued for a long term. Half of the cases had been able to either decrease treatment or to discontinue it.