The clinical features of Behcet's disease in Yongdong districts: analysis of a cohort followed from 1997 to 2001

This study was undertaken to evaluate the clinical features of a cohort of Behcet's disease (BD) followed up from January 1997 to July 2001 in Yongdong districts in Korea, and to compare the results with the literature. Overall features of clinical manifestations were similar to those described in the literature. However, the frequency of gastrointestinal (GI) ulcerations was much higher than those of other Korean studies. The Korean studies including ours revealed a lower frequency of vascular lesions and epididymitis compared with studies of other countries. The most common site and pattern of inflammatory arthritis were knees and monoarticular involvement, respectively. In addition, in most patients, the ocular lesions involved the posterior uveal tract, and the terminal ileum and cecum were the most common sites of GI involvement. Patients with ocular lesions or GI lesions showed a good prognosis during the follow-up. The HLA-B51 antigen was positive in 50.7% of patients, and it was more commonly found in patients with a familial BD.