BEHCET DISEASE

Course overview

BEHCET DISEASE WAS FIRST DESCRIBED IN 1937 BY HULUSI BEHÇET FROM ISTANBUL, WHO DESCRIBED THREE PATIENTS WITH ORAL AND GENITAL ULCERATIONS, UVEITIS, AND ERYTHEMA NODOSUM. OTHER CLINICAL FEATURES WERE IDENTIFIED LATER AND WERE ADDED TO THE DISEASE SPECTRUM. BEHCET DISEASE IS AN AUTO-INFLAMMATORY SYSTEMIC VASCULITIS OF UNKNOWN ETIOLOGY. IT IS CHARACTERIZED BY MUCOCUTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS, INCLUDING RECURRENT ORAL AND GENITAL ULCERATIONS, OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS, ESPECIALLY CHRONIC RELAPSING UVEITIS, AND SYSTEMIC VASCULITIS INVOLVING ARTERIES AND VEINS OF ALL SIZES. IT IS ALSO KNOWN AS BEHCET SYNDROME AND MALIGNANT APHTHOSIS. THIS ACTIVITY DESCRIBES THE PATHOPHYSIOLOGY, ETIOLOGY, PRESENTATION, AND DIAGNOSIS OF BEHCET DISEASE AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN ITS MANAGEMENT.