Seyahi E, Gjoni M, Durmaz EŞ, Akbaş S, Sut N, Dikici AS, Mihmanli I, Yazici H. Increased vein wall thickness in Behçet disease.
J Vasc Surg Venous Lymphat Disord 2019;
7:677-684.e2. [PMID:
30777674 DOI:
10.1016/j.jvsv.2018.11.006]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2018] [Accepted: 11/10/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
Lower extremity (LE) deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is the main feature of vascular involvement in Behçet disease (BD). We thought that vein wall thickness (VWT) could be a surrogate marker for venous inflammation and hence predict future vascular involvement. We assessed VWT in proximal LE veins in BD patients without DVT, BD patients with DVT, and healthy controls in a formal, masked protocol.
METHODS
We studied 50 (43 male and 7 female) BD patients with LE DVT (group 1), 50 (43 male and 7 female) BD patients without any vascular involvement (group 2), and 50 (43 male and 7 female) age- and sex-matched apparently healthy controls (group 3). Two radiologists blinded to the diagnosis of BD used ultrasound to measure VWT of common femoral vein, femoral vein, and great saphenous vein in both legs. Interobserver reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altman plots.
RESULTS
There was good agreement between the two observers. The mean VWT was significantly increased in both BD patients with LE DVT and those without apparent vascular involvement compared with the healthy controls, whereas those with LE DVT had the highest VWT.
CONCLUSIONS
VWT of proximal deep and superficial LE veins is increased among the BD patients without any clinical and radiologic vascular involvement. This information, after prospective work, might be useful in management and elucidating disease mechanisms in vascular BD.
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