Clinical characteristics of Behçet's disease in southern Taiwan

A total of 22 patients were found to have Behçet's disease during the period from 1991 through 1999 in the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Diagnosis of Behçet's disease was made according to the criteria proposed by the International Study Group for Behçet's Disease. Oral lesions were found in all patients, ocular lesions in 55% of patients, genital lesions in 55%, skin lesions in 90.9%, pathergy reaction in 22.7%, arthritis in 31.8%, gastrointestinal involvement in 31.8%, involvement of the central nervous system in 27.2%, and thrombophlebitis in 18%. The mean age was 35.5 years with a biphasic age distribution. The clinical characteristics of patients in this series were different from patients in other Asian countries, which suggests that geographic and genetic factors are important in the pathogenesis of the disease.