Behçet's disease in South African blacks: report of five cases

Behçet's disease is a multisystemic disorder characterized by oral and genital ulcers. Most commonly seen in the Middle East and Japan, it is rare in black Africans. Behçet's disease in five South African blacks is reported. The patients had a mucocutaneous type of the disease, similar to the form prevailing in Western Europe and the United States. One of the patients had neurologic manifestations, and none had uveitis. In four patients genital and cutaneous lesions responded to administration of dapsone, colchicine, or both.