[Behçet's disease: a vascular function study by the venostasis test and DDAVP infusion]

Recurrent thromboembolic accidents are frequent complications of Behçet's disease. Ten patients were investigated, 5 of them during an acute exacerbation of the disease. Abnormal responses to the venostasis test and to DDAVP (i.v.) were demonstrated in acute cases. Factor VIII activities after DDAVP were increased in all 10 patients, which suggests that the response of the vascular endothelium to the stimulus was normal and that a fibrinolytic system inhibitor may be present in the plasma of some patients.