JUVENILE BEHCETS-DISEASE AMONG 1784 TURKISH BEHCETS PATIENTS

Background. Behcet's disease is a chronic, relapsing disease, about wh ich information on its clinical course in juveniles is only available from small groups of patients. Materials and Methods. Patients sufferi ng from Behcet's disease who had their first lesion at or before the a ge of 16 were evaluated in terms of: age at onset, mucocutaneous signs , and findings related to systemic involvement. Ninety-five patients, evaluated as having juvenile Behcet's disease (JBD), were detected amo ng 1784 Turkish Behcet's patients. The mean age of these 95 patients ( 51 boys or men, 44 girls or women) who had JBD was 26.8 +/- 7.1 years. Results. The difference between sexes in terms of age at onset, devel opment period of second lesions, and systemic involvement was not foun d to be significant in JBD. Patients were divided into two groups, one showing severe disease (N = 27) and the other mild disease (N = 68). There was no significant difference between the two groups with respec t to age, age at onset, and sex distribution. The interval between the development of the first and second lesions was shorter in the patien t group with severe disease (P < 0.001) and the development of second lesion was most frequently seen in the first 5 years (P < 0.05). Syste mic involvement developed also in a shorter time in the group with the severe disease (P < 0.01) and was most frequently encountered during the first 5 years (P < 0.05). Conversely, patients with the mild disea se developed systemic involvement mo re frequently after 6 years or la ter. Conclusions. Severe Behcet's disease in children and juveniles sh ows no age or sex predilection, but leads to an earlier recurrence and more severe systemic signs than the mild form.