Cluster analysis of paediatric Behçet’s disease: Data from The Pediatric Rheumatology Academy-Research Group

ABSTRACT Objectives Behçet’s disease (BD) is a systemic vasculitis affecting many organ systems, with the involvement of all-sized arteries and veins. The study aims to determine the main characteristics of paediatric BD patients and also analyse the clustering phenotypes. Methods Demographic data, clinical manifestations, laboratory features, treatment schedules, and disease outcomes were achieved from patients’ charts retrospectively. A cluster analysis was performed according to the phenotype. Results A total of 225 (109 male/116 female) patients with BD were enrolled in the study. The median ages of disease onset and diagnosis were 131 (36–151) and 156 (36–192) months, respectively. According to cluster analysis, 132 (58.6%) patients belonged to the mucocutaneous-only cluster (C1), while 35 (15.6%) patients fitted to articular type (C2), 25 (11.1%) were in the ocular cluster (C3), 26 (11.6%) were in the vascular cluster (C4), and 7(3.1%) belonged to the gastrointestinal cluster (C5). Ocular and vascular clusters were more common in boys (p