Behcet's syndrome with aortic aneurysms.

Diffuse Aortitis Complicating Behcet’s Disease Leading to Severe Aortic Regurgitation

“…An etiological associa tion between Behcet's disease and the aortic aneurysm was raised, although the aneurysm was more likely to be secondary to lumbar osteomyelitis. Hills [4] reported a case of Behcet's disease with fusiform dilatation of the descending thoracic and abdominal aor ta, requiring aortoiliac bypass grafting. De tailed histologic assessment of the aorta was not available in both reports.…”

“…Cardiovascular involve ment in Behcet's disease is frequently the cause of morbidity and mortality [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13], ranging from arterial (aneurysms, occlu sions) [3][4][5][6] to venous (superficial throm bophlebitis, central venous occlusion) [7,8], and may affect different structures of the heart (valves, pericardium, myocardium) [7][8][9]. Arterial involvement has rarely been reported, particularly the thoracic aorta.…”

Fibrinolysis and Thrombosis in Behçet’s Disease

“…Although the thrombotic diathesis predominantly affects the venous system, involvement of both small and large arteries has been reported, including gangrene of the extremities as well as aortic aneurysm formation [7,10,13]. Histological examination of the aneurysm demonstrated severe, acute inflammatory changes resembling vasculitis.…”

“…Other clinical features include skin nodules, pustules, erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme, recurrent arthritis, ulceration of the large bowel and CNS involvement. The frequency of venous thrombosis, including superficial thrombophlebitis [6,8] as well as thrombosis of the superior and inferior vena cava, has been stressed [9][10][11], Most episodes of small and large vein thrombosis tend to occur spontaneously, although their occurrence parallels the systemic activity of the disease.…”

Pulmonary Aneurysm in Behcet Syndrome: Two Case Reports and Review of the Literature

“…These infarctions may result from an intra-arterial thrombus formation, a right ventricular mural thrombus, emboli from the peripheral veins or venae cavae, in situ thrombus formation within the pulmonary arteries, pulmonary arteritis, or rupture of pulmonary aneurysms [3,9,11,17].…”