BEHCET’S DISEASE IN CHILDREN

Abstract

Behcet’s disease is a systemic vasculitis with unknown etiology. It is characterized by recurrent erosive and ulcer lesions of mucoustunic of mouth and genitalia, frequent lesions of eyes, joints, gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system. Behcet’s disease arises predominantly in young men in the age 20–40 years old; the clinical signs of this disease are forming in children up to the 7–13 years old. Approximately 2–3% of patients with Behcet’s disease are children under 16 years old. The diagnostic criteria of disease, presented in 1990 with International Group of Behcet’s Disease are presented. The comparison of clinical signs of a disease showed bigger frequency of vascular pathology in adults; the rate of HLA-B5 antigen is considerable in children and adults (58,5% and 62,8% accordingly) but an aggregation of disease in families of children with Behcet’s disease is higher (12% vs. 1% in adults). Authors presented EULAR recommendations (2008) on the treatment of Behcet’s disease. The peculiarities of treatment of Behcet’s disease are described.
Key words: children, Behcet’s disease, aphthous stomatitis, ulcers of genitalia, uveitis, HLA-B5.
(Voprosy sovremennoi pediatrii — Current Pediatrics. 2009;8(6):64-70)