Vascular involvement in Behçet's disease. Two case reports.

UNLABELLED: Arterial involvement is rare in Behçet's disease but can be at the forefront of the clinical picture and cause life-threatening complications.

CASE REPORTS: A 36-year-old man had Behçet's disease with an aortographically documented aneurysm of the abdominal aorta as the inaugural manifestation. He had oral and genital ulcers. Funduscopy showed periphlebitis. In a 38-year-old man with an 8-year history of Behçet's disease, pulmonary and coronary artery aneurysms developed, as well as intracardiac and venous thromboses.

DISCUSSION: Arterial involvement occurs in 3-5% of patients with Behçet's disease and usually manifests as multiple spindle-shaped aneurysms. Intracardiac thrombosis and cardiac aneurysm are exceedingly rare. Our patient had an extremely unusual presentation given the low rate of occurrence of arterial lesions in Behçet's disease.

CONCLUSION: Arterial involvement in Behçet's disease raises treatment challenges because the lesions tend to recur and can cause life-threatening complications.