Blepharoptosis in Behçet's Disease

ABSTRACT

Behçet's disease is a systemic chronic disease that occurs in tissues such as eyes, joints, organs and nerves, and it has been noted that symptoms may be observed in a variety of tissues. In previous studies, reports of blepharoptosis observed in patients with Behçet's disease have been rare. We would like to report a case where a patient among those who visited our hospital with blepharoptosis had a history of Behçet's disease. This patient had been diagnosed with Behçet's disease, and complained of bilateral blepharoptosis even at the time of diagnosis. He complained of dysfunctions in vision and hearing, and upon eye examination, an eye movement disorder was found in his left eye. From the symptoms, neuro-Behçet's disease was diagnosed. The oculomotor and levator palpebrae superioris muscles are both controlled by cranial nerve III, which may suggest that Behçet's disease in this patient occurred in cranial nerve III. The patient received an oral steroid, and the symptoms have improved without surgery. Since we could identify the correlation between Behçet's disease and blepharoptosis, we considered that sharing this case and its outcome would be helpful for plastic surgeons who treat eyelids.