Epidemiology and Clinical Findings of Behcet's Disease: Statistical Analysis of Patients in the Jeonnam Province from 1997 to 2004 / 대한피부과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Behcet's disease (BD) is a multisystem disease, which manifests with mucocutaneous, ocular, articular, vascular, intestinal, urogenital, and neurologic symptoms. It is highly prevalent in the Far East, including Korea. OBJECTIVE: The epidemiology and clinical findings of BD patients in the Jeonnam Province, including Gwangju city, was evaluated from 1997 to 2004. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated the clinical findings of 137 BD patients followed up at Jeonnam University Hospital. For the analysis of epidemiology and clinical findings, the patients were classified into complete, incomplete and suspected types, according to the diagnostic criteria of the Behcet's Syndrome Research Committee of Japan. Demographic data of the 137 patients were analysed with respect to age, sex, family history, and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: There was a female predominance, with a male-to female ratio of 0.491 and the average age of onset was 32.6 years for males and 27.1 years for females. The greatest study indicated that the incidence of BD had increased in recent years, and the prevalence of male patients had increased relatively since 2001. The most frequent initial symptom was an oral ulcer (92%). Cutaneous manifestations included erythema nodosum-like lesions in 65 patients (47.4%), folliculitis (acne-like lesions) in 43 patients (43%), cutaneous hypersensitivity in 11 patients (8.0%), subcutaneous thrombophlebitis in 7 patients (5.1%), and erythema multiform-like lesions in 2 patients (1.5%). They were grouped into suspected type (47.4%), incomplete type (46.0%) and complete type (6.6%). In the suspected type, as initial major symptoms, the combination of oral ulcer and genital ulcer were most frequent in female patients and the combination of oral ulcer and skin lesions in male patients. CONCLUSION: This is the first clinical study of BD patients in Gwangju and the Jeonnam Province. The new trend in the incidence and sex ratio of BD patients should further be evaluated in the whole of Korea. Further investigation and follow-up study are necessary to better understand the epidemiology and clinical findings of BD.