Joint involvement

Abstract

Behcet's disease (BD) is a polysymptomatic and recurrent systemic vasculitis with a chronic course and unknown cause. Joint involvement in BD is common. Arthropathy in BD is monoarthritis or asymmetrical oligoarthritis affecting larger joints, which is usually acute or recurrent with a self-limiting course. Bone deformity and destruction are rare. Synovial histopathology shows a wide range of features including lining cell hyperplasia, angiogenesis, granulation tissue and lymphoid follicle formation. Usually autoantibodies are negative and the presence of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies at high titers favor the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. First-line treatment includes non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (or corticosteroids for severe cases) whereas colchicine has shown some efficacy for the treatment of recurrent and refractory arthritis.