Symptoms

Symptoms of Behcet’s disease can vary from mild to very severe. Symptoms tend to appear, heal, and then recur (referred to as a flare) frequently over months or years. The most common symptoms of the disease are:

• Oral sores
  • Affect almost all people with the disease
  • Usually are the first to appear
  • Usually last for 10 to 14 days
  • Can be painful
  • Can cause scarring

  Ulcerated Gums

  

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• Genital sores
  • In men: appear on the penis and/or scrotum
  • In women: appear on the vulva or within the vagina
  • Can be painful
  • Can cause scarring
• Uveitis—inflammation of the middle part of the eye, including the iris
  • Tends to cause eye redness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light, and watering eyes
  • If not treated, can cause partial vision loss or blindness
• Arthritis —inflammation of joints
  • Tends to be painful
  • Usually does not cause permanent joint damage
• Skin problems, such as sores
  • May appear as red, raised sores or bumps, or may be flat (flush with the skin)
  • Usually appear on the legs and upper torso

Other symptoms of the disease may include:

• Severe fatigue during a flare
• Blood clots
  • Caused by thrombophlebitis (inflammation of veins), usually in the legs
  • Can cause severe complications if not treated quickly
• Aneurysms , or severely dilated blood vessels
  • May rupture and cause severe consequences
• Heart problems, such as:
  • Abnormal heart rhythms
  • Missed heartbeats
  • Early heartbeats
  • Inflammation of the heart muscle ( myocarditis )
• Central nervous system problems
  • For example, meningoencephalitis, which is inflammation of the brain and membrane that lines the brain
  • May result in seizures , confusion, strokes , memory problems, headaches

  Stroke from a Cerebral Aneurysm

  

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• Digestive problems
  • Causes ulcers and inflammation of the digestive tract (rarely)

Diagnosis

Diagnosing Behcet’s disease is very difficult because:

• Symptoms are similar to those of many other diseases.
• Symptoms often appear very slowly, over months or years.
• There is no specific test to confirm the disease.

A doctor may suspect Behcet’s disease if oral sores appear at least three times within a year, and at least two of the following recurring symptoms appear:

• Eye inflammation
• Genital sores
• Skin sores

If Behcet’s disease is suspected, your doctor will do tests to rule out other diseases with similar symptoms. Also, you may have a pathergy skin test. For this test, your skin is pricked with a small needle. If you have Behcet’s disease, a bump will develop at the site of the skin prick. However, this test is not conclusive. Many people with the disease do not have a reaction to the skin prick.