Behçet's disease associated with amyloidosis in Turkey and in the world

The association of amyloidosis with Behçet's disease has infrequently been reported in published works. Twenty four such cases have been observed in the world, of which 12 are from Turkey, including eight of ours. In all our eight cases renal biopsy showed amyloidosis of type AA. Behçet's disease of male preponderance, long duration, complete type, multiple organ involvement, and positive skin pathergy test were the main characteristics of all 24 cases of Behçet's disease with amyloidosis. We conclude that amyloidosis associated with Behçet's disease is a secondary AA amyloidosis occurring as an intrinsic manifestation of Behçet's disease.