Involvement of Nervous System in Behcet's Syndrome

THE major features of Behcet's syndrome are recurrent oral and genital ulcers and ocular lesions. 10 Many types of ocular involvement have been described, including uveitis, iridocyclitis with hypopyon, keratitis, optic neuritis, and inflammation, thrombosis, or hemorrhage of the blood vessels of the retina. 57 Other manifestations of the syndrome have included pyoderma, furunculosis, erythema nodosum, thrombophlebitis, pericarditis, arthritis, hepatomegaly, epididymitis, ulcers of the gastrointestinal tract, and central nervous system disease. The etiology is not known. The disease may begin with any one of the triad of symptoms, and the complete syndrome may not appear until several years later .57 Curth 23 has suggested that the diagnosis is justified when two of the three classic manifestatations are present; this principle has been accepted by others. 26,56,58,90,92 Although the course is variable, the illness often abates in 15 to 20 years. Blindness is a frequent sequel. 57 When neurologic complications are