Behcet's disease in a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia under hydroxyurea treatment: A case report and review of the literature

Behcet's disease (BD) is a chronic, relapsing vasculitis of unknown etiolog y. Its association with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is extremely rar e, and typical manifestations of an were observed in a very few patients wi th CML, mainly under interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) treatment. Skin pathergy test, being positive in about 50% of patients with an, is also positive in some IFN-alpha -treated patients with CML without any evidence of an sympto ms. We describe a 62-year-old woman with CML who developed characteristic f eatures of an, including a positive skin hyperactivity test, during treatme nt with hydroxyurea. Hydroxyurea has been implicated in the appearance of s kin vasculitic ulceration, but this is the first case, according to our kno wledge, where the development of ED was observed during hydroxyurea mainten ance in the chronic phase of CML. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.