Diagnostic Performance of Lower Extremity Venous Wall Thickness and Laboratory Findings in the Diagnosis of the Behçet Disease

Abstract

Background/Objective: Behçet disease (BD) is not a single unique entity but a syndrome with different clinical phenotypes that can involve arterial and venous vessels of all sizes. To date, there has been no specific test or serum marker to measure and determine the severity of BD, and diagnosis remains based on clinical findings. This study aimed to assess lower extremity venous wall thickness (VWT) measured by ultrasound and laboratory findings and diagnostic performance in patients with BD.Methods: A total of 106 participants were recruited from the rheumatology department in this single-center, case-control study. Participants meeting the eligibility criteria were divided into healthy controls (n = 52) and BD (n = 54). The VWT values of the common femoral vein, great saphenous vein, and popliteal vein were measured using ultrasonography. Laboratory data were obtained from the electronic registration database. Venous wall thicknesses and laboratory findings in patients with BD and healthy subjects were compared.Results: Venous wall thickness of the lower extremity veins was higher in the BD group and higher in those with a history of deep vein thrombosis than in those without. The mean leukocyte, monocyte, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein, plateletcrit (PCT), red cell distribution width (RDW), mean platelet volume (MPV) values, and monocyteto-lymphocyte ratio (MLR) were higher in BD patients than in the control group. There was a correlation among increased VWT, ESR, PCT, MPV, RDW, and MLR.Conclusions: C-reactive protein, ESR, MPV, PCT, MLR, RDW, and VWT can be used to assist in the diagnosis of BD.

The effect of colchicine treatment on complete blood cell count-based parameters in patients with Behçet's disease

“…PCT may also be a good indicator of inflammation. A recent study found a higher PCT value than the healthy control (31). Thrombocytes play an essential role in various inflammatory disorders by activating immune cells and stimulating immune responses, consistent with the current study findings of significantly high MPV and PCT values in BD (26,31,32).…”

Behçet's syndrome: one year in review 2022

“…Clinical significance is unclear since no diseased controls were included and the data is based on diagnosis codes, carrying the risk of misdiagnosis. Growing evidence indicates that venous wall thickness (VWT) of the lower extremity veins is increased in BS compared to that found in several inflammatory diseases and healthy controls (66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71). VWT was especially increased among those BS patients with no apparent vascular involvement suggesting that VWT could be an early indication of vascular inflammation (66,71).…”

“…Growing evidence indicates that venous wall thickness (VWT) of the lower extremity veins is increased in BS compared to that found in several inflammatory diseases and healthy controls (66)(67)(68)(69)(70)(71). VWT was especially increased among those BS patients with no apparent vascular involvement suggesting that VWT could be an early indication of vascular inflammation (66,71). Furthermore, Alibaz et al suggested that VWT could be used as a distinctive diagnostic tool for the differentiation of BS from other inflammatory diseases (68).…”