The great masquerader: Behcet's disease

Neutrophilic dermatosis and hidradenitis suppurativa in patients with Behçet's disease: A neutrophilic disease in the spectrum of autoinflammatory syndromes

BACKGROUND

Association of neutrophilic dermatosis (ND), hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) and Behçet's disease (BD) and shared efficacy of TNFα axis blockade suggests common physiopathology.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the clinical features and therapeutic response of ND and HS associated with BD.

METHODS

We identified 20 patients with ND or HS associated with BD among 1462 patients with BD.

RESULTS

We analysed 20 (1.4%) patients diagnosed with ND or HS associated with BD: 13 HS, 6 pyoderma gangrenosum (PG), and 1 SAPHO. Our 6 PG cases over 1462 BD patients accounts for 400/100 000 prevalence. Thirteen had bipolar aphthosis, 6 vascular, 5 neurologic, and 4 ocular involvements. All PG occurred on limbs and had typical histology with constant dermal neutrophilic infiltrate. All HS had the classical axillary-mammary phenotype. Sixty-nine percent (69%) of HS were Hurley 1 stage. Treatment consisted mainly in colchicine (n = 20), glucocorticoids (n = 12), and anti-TNFα (n = 9). Interesting results with complete or partial responses were obtained with anti-TNFα (9 cases), ustekinumab (3 cases) and tocilizumab (1 case) to treat refractory ND or HS associated with BD.

CONCLUSION

PG seems overrepresented in patients with BD. Biotherapies such as anti-TNFα, ustekinumab and tocilizumab appear to be promising to treat refractory ND or HS associated with BD.

Oral Lesions as the Primary Manifestations of Behçet's Disease: The Importance of Interdisciplinary Diagnostics-A Case Report

BACKGROUND

Behçet's disease (BD) is a rare chronic auto-inflammatory systemic disease with non-specific oral manifestations, categorised as generalised variable vessel vasculitis that requires an interdisciplinary approach to diagnose due to its phenotypic heterogeneity. Whilst the oral lesions that reoccur in BD underpin the complex diagnostic process, the crucial role of dental professionals is highlighted in a case report summarised herein. We present a case of a 47-year-old male referred to the Oral Medicine Department by a rheumatologist after previous hospitalization for thrombosis of the iliac vein and inferior vena cava. He had elevated inflammatory C-reactive protein biomarker and an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Recurrent episodes of folliculitis, oral and genital ulcers were reported. Clinical examination revealed multiple ulcerations in the oral mucosa. The complementary, histopathological analysis performed to rule out other disorders, based on excisional biopsy, showed non-keratinised stratified squamous epithelium with areas of exocytosis and ulceration. The connective tissue presented an intense mixed inflammatory infiltrate, congested blood vessels, haemorrhage, vasculitis, and HLA-B genotyping identified the expression of HLA-B15, further supporting the BD diagnosis. Treatment was initiated with colchicine, prednisolone, and weekly subcutaneous administration of methotrexate and resulted in the complete remission of oral lesions and no recurrence of other manifestations.

CONCLUSIONS

This BD case report emphasizes the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in diagnosing BD, including the use of histopathological assessment and genetic profiling. It highlights the significance of thorough intraoral assessment and referral to a multidisciplinary team for diagnosis. The oral manifestations of BD as the primary symptoms often indicate underlying major systemic pathologies. The authors stress the need for a structured diagnostic algorithm to facilitate timely and effective management of BD.

Using hierarchical similarity to examine the genetics of Behçet's disease

OBJECTIVE

Behçet's disease (BD) is a multisystem inflammatory disease that affects patients along the historic silk road. Thus far, the pathogenesis of the disease has proved elusive due to the complex genetic interactions of the disease. In this paper, we seek to clarify the genetic factors of the disease while also uncovering other diseases of interest that present with a similar genotype as BD.

RESULTS

To do this, we employ a convergent functional genomics approach by leveraging the hierarchical similarity tool available in Geneweaver. Through our analysis, we were able to ascertain 7 BD consensus genes and 16 autoimmune diseases with genetic overlap with BD. The results of our study will inform further research into the pathogenesis of Behçet's disease.

Differentiation between intestinal Behçet’s disease and Crohn’sdisease based on endoscopy

Background/aim

Differentiating intestinal Behçet’s disease (BD) from Crohn’s disease (CD) is highly challenging, as they often mimic each other in terms of clinical manifestations. Endoscopy is an important modality for distinguishing bowel lesions. The study was designed to identify clinical manifestations that are easily confused and to evaluate the efficacy of endoscopy for distinguishing intestinal BD from CD by several overlapping signs.

Materials and methods

The data from 111 patients with intestinal BD and 81 patients with CD were retrospectively analyzed. Logistic regression was applied to establish a prediction model based on endoscopic findings for the differential diagnosis. The diagnostic efficacy of endoscopy was verified using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve.

Results

Among intestinal BD patients mucocutaneous lesions were the leading clinical manifestations. Gastrointestinal symptoms were common in CD but were rare in intestinal BD (P < 0.001). CD patients with moderate-to-severe activity were more common than intestinal BD patients presenting with equivalent activity (P < 0.05). Independent factors that distinguished intestinal BD from CD were solitary ulcer in the ileocecal area (P < 0.001), perianal abscess (P = 0.049), single segment (P < 0.001), round intestinal ulcer (P = 0.013), intestinal obstruction (P = 0.035), and fistula (P < 0.001). The scores ranged from –2 to 3. The area under the ROC curve was 0.874 (95% CI: 0.823–0.926) (P < 0.001). With a score of 1.5 as the diagnostic cutoff value, the sensitivity and specificity were 76.3% and 80.6%, respectively.

Conclusion

Mucosal injuries were rarer in patients with intestinal BD than in those with CD. The differentiation model combining several endoscopy features appeared to be reliable for distinguishing between intestinal BD and CD.

Small Bowel Lesions Mimicking Crohn's Disease

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Not all injuries of the terminal ileum are Crohn's disease. It is the purpose of this review to consider the differential diagnosis of other acute and chronic ileal lesions.

RECENT FINDINGS

The recognition of a granulomatous disease of the terminal ileum, distinct from tuberculosis, dates back over 85 years and perhaps much farther, but over the past decades, many other clinical pathologic entities have been described that are neither tuberculosis nor Crohn's eponymous regional enteritis. In recent years, the catalog of lesions mimicking Crohn's disease of the small bowel and proposals for differential diagnosis and treatment have expanded to include newly reported appendiceal pathology, primary cancers and lymphomas of the intestine, unexpected metastases from distant organs, unusual infections, vasculitides and other ischemic conditions, Behçet's disease, endometriosis, and drug reactions. A diagnosis of Crohn's disease should not be a reflex action in the face of small bowel structural or inflammatory lesions without consideration of pathology in adjacent organs, primary and metastatic lesions of the small intestine, infections, vascular diseases, infiltrative diseases, drug injury, or other "idiopathic" conditions.