Major vessel involvement in Behcet's disease: an update

Purpose of revie

The unique features of vasculitis in Behcet's syndrome

The presence of a true vasculitis is difficult to discern in some of the more common manifestations of Behcet's syndrome, like the papulopustular lesions of the skin. On the other hand, a true vasculitis is seen in all vessel sizes in the majority of the patients. The pathogenesis is not yet known. A Th1-type inflammatory reaction is seen like in some other primary vasculitides. However, in contrast to other vasculitides, granuloma formation is absent. Behcet's syndrome is unique among the vasculitides with its differing geographic distribution in disease expression, the distinctly more severe disease among the male, the predominance of venous disease, and the generally abating disease course with lack of associated increased atherosclerosis

Quantiferon-TB Gold in tube assay for the screening of tuberculosis before and during treatment with tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonists

Introduction: The usefulness of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) release assays for tuberculosis screening before tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) antagonists and for monitoring during treatment is a contraversial issue. The aims of this study were to determine whether TNF-alpha antagonists affect the results of the Quantiferon-TB Gold in-tube assay (QTF); to assess how QTF performs in comparison with the tuberculin skin test (TST) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who are about to start treatment with TNF-alpha antagonists, RA patients who are not candidates for treatment with TNF-alpha antagonists, rheumatology patients with confirmed current or past tuberculosis infection, and healthy controls, and to determine the specificity of the QTF test to differentiate leprosy patients, another group of patients infected with mycobacteria

Infliximab does not suppress the tuberculin skin test (purified protein derivative)

Objective. Tuberculin skin testing with purified protein derivative (PPD) is part of tuberculosis (TB) screening in patients receiving infliximab. We assessed whether infliximab, a strong inhibitor of inflammation, suppressed dermal induration, the outcome of this test. We also reassessed the booster phenomenon and the interobserver variability in tuberculin testing

Vascular involvement in Behcet's syndrome: a retrospective analysis of associations and the time course

Objective. Some features of Behcet's syndrome (BS) tend to go together. We aimed to explore the association and timing of various vascular events in both the venous and the arterial vascular tree

A reassessment of the International Study Group criteria for the diagnosis (classification) of Behcet's syndrome

Objective Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD) were not represented in the diseased controls group that had been utilised in the development of the International Study Group (ISG) criteria for the diagnosis of Behcet's syndrome (BS). Having similar features, both of these conditions can pose problems in the differential diagnosis of BS. Moreover there has been a recent awareness of coexistence of BS and familial Mediterranean fever (FMF). The aim of this study was to reassess the performance of ISG criteria among patients with BS and other rheumatological conditions, specifically including those with CD, UC, and FM