Colonoscopic findings in intestinal Behcet's disease

The aims of this study were to investigate the clinical and colonoscopic ch aracteristics of patients with intestinal Behcet's disease and to compare t he findings of typical and atypical intestinal Behcet's disease. Ninety-fou r patients diagnosed as having intestinal Behcet's disease were included. O f these, we considered 42 patients as having complete or incomplete type; t hese fulfilled the international criteria as "typical," and the other 52 pa tients were classified as having "atypical" intestinal Behcet's disease. Ab dominal pain was the most common symptom (92%), followed by diarrhea and ga strointestinal bleeding. All of the 22 patients with a history of surgery h ad ulcers at the anastomotic site. Most of the patients, who had never been operated on, had lesions in the ileocecal area (96%). Sixty-th-ree patient s (67%) had a single ulcer. Many (76%) of the ulcers were larger than I cm, and the mean size of the ulcers was 2.9 cm. Most (99%) of the ulcers were round/oval or geographic in shape. Usually ulcers were deep (62%), and thei r margins discrete (80%). There was no difference in the endoscopic finding s of typical and atypical intestinal Behcet's disease. Typical colonoscopic findings in intestinal Behcet's disease were single or a few deep ulcers w ith discrete margins in the ileocecal area or anastomotic site. Endoscopic characteristics of patients with intestinal involvement in the case of "sus pect" or "possible" type of Behcet's disease that lack the systemic manifes tations of Behcet's disease were in accord with those in "complete" or "inc omplete" types of Behcet's disease, who fulfill the International Study Gro up for Behcet's Disease criteria.