PURPOSE: To assess the prevalence of ocular involvement in a cohort of patients with Behçet's disease (BD) who have been followed in the last twenty years and to compare any possible differences in the prevalence of ocular lesions according to the gender.
METHODS: One hundred and ten patients were retrospectively studied. The males/females, ratio was 1.6:1, with a mean disease duration of 11±5 yrs. Their mean age was 42±9 years (min:18, max:77), while the mean age at disease onset was 30±4 years (min:13, max:58). Prevalence of ocular clinical features and therapeutic approach were retrospectively analysed in all patients.
RESULTS: Prevalence of ocular ocular involvement was observed in 40% (18% males and 22% females; mean age at the onset 25,8±9 years). The mean time between the first initial symptoms of BD and the onset of eye lesions was 3±2 years; additionally unilateral ocular disease occurred in 17 patients (36% ), while the other cases (64%) experienced bilateral involvement. The number of episodes of ocular lesions was the following: 32% posterior uveitis, 27% anterior uveitis, while panuveitis developed in 17% subjects. Loss of vision occurred in both eyes in 1 case and in one eye in 3 patients. In 31 patients the disease course was recurrent (28 males, 3 females). Additionally, comparing the frequency of ocular lesions according to the gender, we observed that males were characterised by a higher prevalence of posterior uveitis (26/29 males versus 6/18 females, p< 0,0001) and retinal vasculitis (15/29 males versus 6/18 females, p< 0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: In our cohort 40% of patients experienced inflammatory eye involvement, often within 3 years after the initial symptoms of disease. Panuveitis and retinal vasculitis seem more common in males characterised by a more frequent recurrent course