Behçet syndrome in children and adults: discovering similarities and differences by a comparative study

Thrombotic manifestations in pediatric Behcet syndrome: A multicenter comparative study from the EUROFEVER registry

INTRODUCTION

Vascular events account for a considerable burden of morbidity and mortality in Behçet syndrome (BS). Thrombosis occurs in 1.8-21 % pediatric BS patients, even if the real prevalence is still largely unknown.

OBJECTIVES

To report clinical features and outcomes of pediatric BS patients with thrombosis and to compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of BS patients with and without thrombosis.

METHODS

Retrospective data collection of BS patients with thrombosis (T+) included in the EUROFEVER registry. BS patients without thrombosis (T-), belonging to the same rheumatology units, were matched in a 2:1 ratio.

RESULTS

37 T+ were compared to 74 T- patients. At onset, ICBD criteria fulfillment was higher in the T- group (p = 0.015). Caucasian patients were more often T-, Turkish patients were more frequent in T+ group (p = 0.002). At onset, pustulosis was most frequently observed in the T- (p < 0.001) as well as gastrointestinal symptoms (p < 0.001) and ocular involvement (p = 0.022). Neurological symptoms were more often described in T+ (p = 0.034). As for T+, thrombosis was reported at BS presentation in 8/37 (21.6 %). For the T + e patients who developed thrombosis later, oral aphthosis (p = 0.003), genital aphthosis (p = 0.014) were more frequently observed at BS onset, while pustulosis (p = 0.005) and fever (p = 0.043) coexisted with thrombosis. Thrombosis was mainly venous (26/37,70.3 %), involving the cerebral sinuses (21/37, 56.8 %). After thrombosis, 35/37 (94.6 %) T+ patients received an immunomodulatory treatment compared with 16/29 (55.2 %) pre-thrombosis. A recurrence was reported in 6/31(19.4 %).

CONCLUSION

Thrombosis was reported at BS presentation in one fifth of cases. Pustolosis and fever were more frequently concomitant to thrombosis. Sinus veins were the most frequent site.

Clinical heterogeneity and five phenotypes identified in pediatric Behçet's syndrome: a cohort study from Shanghai Behçet's syndrome database

OBJECTIVES

Behçet's syndrome (BS) is a rare disease of unknown etiology, with limited reports especially in pediatric BS. The clinical characteristics and phenotypes of pediatric BS as a highly heterogeneous variable vessel vasculitis were investigated in this study.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted to compare clinical variables and descriptive characteristics of BS by age of onset and gender. Cluster analysis was then performed to identify the phenotypes of pediatric BS.

RESULTS

A total of 2082 BS patients were included in this study, 1834 adults and 248 children. Compared with adult-onset BS, pediatric BS had a higher incidence of folliculitis [relative risks (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.3 (1.0-1.5)], uveitis of the left eye [RR and 95% CI 2.3 (1.0-5.0)], intestinal ulcer complications [RR and 95% CI 2.1 (1.1-4.2)], pericarditis [RR and 95% CI 2.5 (1.0-6.2)], and psychiatric disorders [RR and 95% CI 2.8(1.0-7.9)], while the incidence of thrombocytopenia was lower [RR 0.2 (0.1-1.0)]. Among pediatric BS, females had more genital ulcers, while males were more likely to have skin lesions, panuveitis, vascular involvement, venous lesions, cardiac involvement, and aortic aneurysms. Cluster analysis classified pediatric BS into five clusters (C1-C5): C1 (n = 61, 24.6%) showed gastrointestinal (GI) involvement; C2 (n = 44, 17.7%) was the central nervous system (CNS) type where 23 cases overlapped joint involvement; in C3 (n = 35, 14.1%), all patients presented with arthritis or arthralgia; all patients in C4 (n = 29, 11.7%) manifested ocular involvement, with a few patients overlapping with GI involvement or joint damage; C5 (n = 79, 31.9%) was the mucocutaneous type, presenting both oral ulcers, genital ulcers, and skin lesions.

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical features of pediatric and adult BS differ significantly. Male and female pediatric BS also have a distinct demography. Five phenotypes including GI, CNS, joint, ocular, and mucocutaneous types were identified for pediatric BS.

Musculoskeletal manifestations in children with Behçet's syndrome: data from the AIDA Network Behçet's Syndrome Registry

This study aims to describe musculoskeletal manifestations (MSM) in children with Behçet's syndrome (BS), their association with other disease manifestations, response to therapy, and long-term prognosis. Data were retrieved from the AIDA Network Behçet's Syndrome Registry. Out of a total of 141 patients with juvenile BS, 37 had MSM at disease onset (26.2%). The median age at onset was 10.0 years (IQR 7.7). The median follow-up duration was 21.8 years (IQR 23.3). Recurrent oral (100%) and genital ulcers (67.6%) and pseudofolliculitis (56.8%) were the most common symptoms associated with MSM. At disease onset, 31 subjects had arthritis (83.8%), 33 arthralgia (89.2%), and 14 myalgia (37.8%). Arthritis was monoarticular in 9/31 cases (29%), oligoarticular in 10 (32.3%), polyarticular in 5 (16.1%), axial in 7 (22.6%). Over time, arthritis became chronic-recurrent in 67.7% of cases and 7/31 patients had joint erosions (22.6%). The median Behçet's Syndrome Overall Damage Index was 0 (range 0-4). Colchicine was inefficacious for MSM in 4/14 cases (28.6%), independently from the type of MSM (p = 0.46) or the concomitant therapy (p = 0.30 for cDMARDs, p = 1.00 for glucocorticoids); cDMARDs and bDMARDs were inefficacious for MSM in 6/19 (31.4%) and 5/12 (41.7%) cases. The presence of myalgia was associated with bDMARDs inefficacy (p = 0.014). To conclude, MSM in children with BS are frequently associated with recurrent ulcers and pseudofolliculitis. Arthritis is mostly mono- or oligoarticular, but sacroiliitis is not unusual. Prognosis of this subset of BS is overall favorable, though the presence of myalgia negatively affects response to biologic therapies. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05200715 (registered on December 18, 2021).