Activated protein C resistance in Behcet's disease

Behcet's disease is a chronic multi-system disorder of unknown etiology with protean manifestations. Venous thromboembolism is more common than arterial thrombosis, with deep vein thrombosis being the most frequent. Endothelial dysfunction resulting from vascular inflammation is considered to be an important factor of thrombosis, although the endothelial injury itself cannot completely explain the hypercoagulable state of the disease because other vasculitis syndromes do not increase the risk of thrombosis. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of activated protein C resistance (APC-R) in Egyptian patients with Behcet's disease. Also, to detect hyperhomocysteinemia in selected cases (with vascular complications) to assess their relationship with thromboembolic complications. The APC resistance ratio mean in the group of patients with vascular involvement was 2.6 ± 0.8 which was less than the group with no vascular involvement 2.8 ± 0.6, with non- significant P-value (0.5). There was more incidence of ocular lesions in the group of patients with high homocysteine level than the group of patients with normal homocytsteine level with significant P-value (0.08).