Behçet’s Disease and Pregnancy

Abstract

Behçet's disease (BD) is a rare, chronic, multisystemic, vasculitic disease of unknown etiology. BD is characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers and ocular inflammation. This systemic vasculitis may also involve the joints, skin, vascular, gastrointestinal, urogenital, and central nervous system and is associated with hypercoagulability. Disease onset is commonly around the third decade of life and has a higher prevalence along the ancient "silk route." Because the disease is often diagnosed in women of childbearing age, disease activity during pregnancy and any adverse effect on obstetric and neonatal outcomes deserve special attention. Previous retrospective studies have demonstrated that BD activity usually regresses in pregnancy because of the immunomodulatory effects of both estrogen and progesterone. Furthermore, previous reports from different countries indicate that the disease course of BD during pregnancy may vary from patient to patient and even during different pregnancies in the same woman. In this chapter, we emphasize the course of the BD and pregnancy outcomes.