A case of symptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis complicated by behçet’s disease which emerged with joint swelling

Abstract

We herein report a case of symptomatic primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) complicated by Behçet’s disease which became apparent with joint swelling. A 35-year-old man had suffered from repeated uvetitis of unknown origin since he was 29 years old. He was referred to us for itching sensation and biliary-tract-enzyme elevation when he was 32 years old. We diagnosed as symptomatic PBC based on symptoms, serologic tests, and histological findings of liver biopsy, and thereafter treated with ursodeoxycholic acid. One year later, he suffered from finger-joint swelling of unknown origin repeated with 6 month interval. Two years later, he was admitted to our hospital due to finger-joint swelling accompanied with repeated fever and oral aphtha. We found uveitis, oral aphtha, vulva ulceration, and multiple ulceration of ileum terminal, and diagnosed as Behçet’s disease. We subsequently treated with colchicine. This is the first case of advanced symptomatic PBC complicated by Behçet’s disease.