Echocardiography Parameters in Behcet's Disease, A Comparative Study
Reza Salehi Manzari1, Zahra Mirfeizi2, Hoorak Poorzand3
1Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
Insights
Echocardiography detected higher tricuspid regurgitation and elevated pulmonary artery pressure in Behçet
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Rheumatology
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory condition with potential multi-organ effects.
- Cardiac involvement in BD, though uncommon, significantly impacts patient morbidity, mortality, and quality of life.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate echocardiographic abnormalities in patients with Behçet's disease who exhibit no cardiac symptoms.
- To assess cardiac function using echocardiography in asymptomatic BD patients.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study conducted from 2015-2018.
- Inclusion of patients diagnosed with BD based on ISG criteria and a control group.
- Transthoracic echocardiography performed on all participants, with comparative analysis of echocardiographic parameters.
Main Results:
- Increased severity of aortic, mitral, and tricuspid regurgitation observed in the BD group compared to controls.
- Tricuspid regurgitation severity showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001).
- Systolic Pulmonary Artery Pressure (sPAP) was significantly higher in BD patients (24.6 mmHg) versus controls (22.81 mmHg) (p = 0.019).
Conclusions:
- Echocardiography is a valuable tool for assessing cardiac function, even in asymptomatic individuals with Behçet's disease.
- Moderate mitral and aortic regurgitation were exclusively found in BD patients.
- Long-term follow-up and further research are recommended.
Objective:
Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with multiple organ involvements. Although cardiac involvement is not common, it can increase patient morbidity and mortality and decrease life quality. In the present study, echocardiographic abnormalities in BD with no cardiac symptoms were investigated.
Methods:
This cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study was performed on patients referred to Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad from 2015 to 2018. The participants were divided into control and BD groups. Patients with BD were diagnosed based on ISG criteria. All participants underwent transthoracic echocardiography. Echocardiographic parameters were compared between BD and control groups.
Results:
In this study, the severity of aortic (AR), mitral (MR), and tricuspid valve regurgitation (TR) was higher in BD than in the control group, while only TR severity showed a statistically significant difference (p-value < 0.001). Systolic Pulmonary Artery Pressure (sPAP) was significantly higher in BD compared to the control group (24.6 mmHg versus 22.81 mmHg, respectively) (pvalue = 0.019).
Conclusion:
It seems echocardiography is valuable in evaluating a cardiac function, even in asymptomatic patients. Cases with moderate mitral and aortic regurgitation were only observed in BD. Long-term follow-up is suggested, and further studies are required.
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