Behcet's disease: an assessment of cutaneous, ocular and articular characteristics in the south of Jordan

ABSTRACT

To determine the spectrum and the frequency of skin, eye and joint manifestation in patients with Behcet's Disease in the southern parts of Jordan. Twenty three patients diagnosed to have Behcet's Disease were included in the study. The diagnosis was based on the criteria proposed by the International Study Group of Behcet's Disease. In order to detect the various cutaneous, ocular and articular manifestations of the disease, all patients were thoroughly evaluated by a dermatologist, an ophthalmologist, and a rheumatologist. Pathergy test was performed for all patients. Fifteen patients were males [65.1%] and eight were females [34.8%]. The mean age was 32.5 years Oral ulcers were detected in all the patients and genital ulcers were found in 56.5% of the patients. Other skin lesions were detected in 56.5% of the patients. Ocular lesions occurred in 60.8% of the patients. Joint involvement was found in 43.4% of the patients. The pattern of cutaneous, ophthalmic and articular manifestation in our group of patients was different from patterns reported in countries with different races and similar to patterns in neighboring countries. The results may reflect the effect of differences in both the genetic background and environmental factors among different countries