Vascular aneurysms in Behcet's disease

Spontaneous internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm in a patient with behçet disease

We describe the uncommon case of a patient with Behçet disease who developed a giant spontaneous cervical internal carotid artery pseudoaneurysm confirmed at surgery. We also discuss the implications of this rare complication.

Extracranial carotid artery aneurysm due to Behcet's disease

Behçet's disease is a chronic systemic inflammatory disorder associated with recurrent oral and genital ulcers and iritis. Vascular lesions are encountered in 7%-29% of patients, gravely affecting the course of the disease. Extracranial carotid aneurysms due to Behçet's disease are extremely rare. We describe a surgically treated case of Behçet's disease in a 28-year-old man who presented with a rapidly enlarging left common carotid artery aneurysm.

[Iatrogenic arterial pseudo aneurysms in Behçet's disease. Two cases]

Behçet's disease is a multi systemic vasculitis of unknown origin characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcerations, uveitis and skin lesions. Vascular involvement mainly interesting the venous system is present in about 7 to 38% of patients. Arterial involvement is present in 2 to 8% of patients and is associated with a high mortality. It may present as aneurysms, pseudo aneurysms or arterial occlusions. Pseudo aneurysm formation has been reported to be sometimes due to invasive imaging techniques, it may also follow arterial repair. We report two exceptional localizations of iatrogenic pseudo aneurysms due to accidental arterial puncture, involving respectively the internal carotid artery and the humeral artery. We discuss the clinical characteristics and therapeutic modalities of this complication.