The course of COVID-19 in patients with Behçet's disease

To evaluate the frequency and clinical course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in patients with Behçet's disease (BD).

The study included patients diagnosed with BD according to the International Study Group for BD criteria who were being followed up in the Dermatology and Rheumatology clinics. Patients who applied to Rheumatology and Dermatology clinics and were not diagnosed with any rheumatological disease were taken as the control group. The medical records of the patients were examined retrospectively. A record was made of age, gender, additional systemic disease, for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), colchicine treatment dose, whether or not a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test was performed, disease course in patients diagnosed with COVID-19, length of stay in hospital, and the need or not for intensive care unit (ICU) admission.

Evaluation was made of 203 BD patients and a control group of 200 individuals. No difference was determined between the groups in respect of age and gender (respectively p = 0.348, p = 0.828). A polymerase chain reaction test for the SARS-CoV-2 was applied to 56 patients in the BD group, and 18 were reported positive, and to 80 subjects in the control group, of which 32 were determined positive. No difference was determined between the groups in terms of PCR test positivity (p = 0.321). No significant difference was determined between the groups in length of stay in hospital, lung involvement, ICU admissions, and mortality rates (respectively p = 0.684, p = 1.000, p = 0.503, p = 1.000). In the BD patient group, in all the parameters there was no significant difference between those who were positive or negative for COVID-19.

The results of this study showed no increased risk for BD patients compared to the normal population in respect of the frequency of SARS-CoV-2 infection, length of hospital stay, lung involvement, ICU admission and mortality.