Behcet's disease

Behcet's disease is a systemic vasculitis of unknown aetiology characterist ically affecting venules. Onset is typically in young adults with recurrent oral and genital ulceration, uveitis, skin manifestations, arthritis, neur ological involvement, and a tendency to thrombosis. It has a world-wide dis tribution but is prevalent in Japan, the Middle East, and some Mediterranea n countries. International diagnostic criteria have been proposed, however diagnosis can be problematical, particularly if the typical ulcers are not obvious at presentation. Treatment is challenging, must be tailored to the pattern of organ involvement for each patient and often requires combinatio n therapies.