Clinical features of late-onset Behcet's disease: Report of nine cases

Abstract

Background Behcet's disease (BD) is usually diagnosed between the second and fourth decades. Onset after 50 years of age is extremely rare. We aimed to analyze the clinical features of late-onset patients with BD. Method The study was conducted from 439 patients diagnosed as BD according to criteria of the International Study Group for BD. Clinical features of patients who were asymptomatic or suffered from only recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) until 50 years of age but fulfilled the diagnostic criteria of BD after this age were reviewed. Results The age-of-onset was more than 50 years in nine patients (1.56%). Two patients developed erythema nodosum, two developed pathergy positivity, one developed papulopustules, pathergy positivity and ocular symptoms, one developed papulopustules and pathergy positivity, one developed ocular symptoms, one developed papulopustules and ocular symptoms, and one developed erythema nodosum and pathergy positivity as well as oral aphthae and genital ulcerations after the age of 50 years. The neurologic system was involved in two patients. Mucocutaneous symptoms of two patients worsened after interruption of therapy. Two patients with neurologic and ocular involvement flared during the follow up. Conclusion Since the course of the disease is regarded to be relatively mild in mature patients, it is noteworthy that systemic manifestations such as ocular and neurologic involvement and acute flares developed after the age of 50 years in the limited number of patients with late-onset BD in our series.