[Case of Behçet's disease with frequent recurrence of multiple pulmonary abscess-like opacities]

A 39-year-old woman, who had a history of recurrent oral and genital ulcerations and folliculitis and had had a low-grade fever since December 2003, consulted our hospital on February 5, 2004. Chest radiography and computed tomography (CT) showed multiple pulmonary abscess-like opacities. She was admitted to the Department of Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Kinki University School of Medicine on February 19, 2004. A transbronchial lung biopsy showed nonspecific inflammation with lymphocytic infiltration. The patient was discharged after she showed improvement with antibiotic therapy. She was readmitted to our hospital on October 3, 2006, because of recurrence of pulmonary abscess-like opacities. Bronchoalveolar lavage showed lymphocytosis (53%) but yielded no significant bacteria on culture. Behçet's disease was diagnosed on the basis of the three major symptoms (recurrent oral and genital ulcerations and folliculitis). The frequent recurrence of pulmonary lesions was suspected to be due to immunological impairment associated with Behçet's disease, and the pulmonary lesions and inflammatory reaction tests showed improvement after colchicine was administered. The patient was discharged on October 28, 2006. To our knowledge this is the third reported case of frequently recurrent multiple pulmonary abscess-like opacities in Behçet's disease.