Optimal timing of surgical treatment for Behcet's disease aortic or peripheral artery pseudoaneurysms

The aim of this study was to assess the optimal thresholds of surgical intervention for Behcet's disease (BD) aortic or peripheral artery pseudoaneurysms.

This was a retrospective single-center study of 2138 patients with BD, including 96 patients with vascular BD (4.5%) with 151 pseudoaneurysms between January 2002 and December 2021. Factors associated with mortality were assessed using Cox regression model. The growth rate of each pseudoaneurysm was calculated based on available imaging data in a linear mixed effect model.

Patients in the surgical group (2/56) had significantly lower aneurysm-related mortality than those in the medical treatment group (10/33) (χ² = 10.34; P = .0013). Surgical intervention (P = .009) and diameter of BD pseudoaneurysm (P = .006) were independently associated with BD aneurysm-related mortality. Rapid growth of BD pseudoaneurysm was achieved once diameter exceeded 4.0 cm for aortic pseudoaneurysm, or 2.5 cm for peripheral artery pseudoaneurysm, accompanied with high risk of rupture (Overall rupture rate: BD aortic pseudoaneurysm, ≥4.0 cm vs <4.0 cm: 63.6% vs 15.4%; BD peripheral artery pseudoaneurysm, ≥2.5 cm vs <2.5 cm: 50.9% vs 0).

This study verified the critical role of surgical intervention in reducing the mortality rate of patients with BD pseudoaneurysms. BD aortic pseudoaneurysms larger than 4.0 cm in diameter and peripheral artery pseudoaneurysms larger than 2.5 cm in diameter require prompt surgical intervention due to the remarkable increase in the growth rate and greater risk of rupture and death.