Central nervous system symptoms in patients with Behcet disease receiving cyclosporine therapy

Objective: To investigate the association between the development of centra l nervous system (CNS) symptoms in patients with Behcet disease and medical therapy. Design: Retrospective cohort study, Participants: A total of 317 patients with Behcet disease with ocular compl ications who visited Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan, between 1978 and 1994, Main Outcome Measures: The incidence of CNS symptoms in different medical t herapies. Results: Twenty-one (6.6%) of the 317 patients developed CNS symptoms, name ly neuro-Behcet disease. Of the 21 patients, 12 were undergoing cyclosporin e therapy, Of the 47 patients who underwent cyclosporine therapy, 12 (25.5% ) developed CNS symptoms, whereas only 9 (3.3%) of 270 patients who did not undergo cyclosporine therapy developed CNS symptoms. Conclusions: Cyclosporine in the treatment of Behcet disease appears to cau se neurotoxicity or to accelerate the development of CNS symptoms. Thus, ne urologic complications appear to represent a major side effect of cyclospor ine in the treatment of patients with Behcet disease.