AB1348 Prevalence, gender-predominance and clinical presentation of behÇet's disease in egypt: preliminary findings from a multicenter nationwide study

Abstract

Background Behçet’s disease is a chronic, relapsing multisystemic vasculitis that is common in the Mediterranean basin region with a diverse spectrum of clinical manifestations. A previous single-centre study from Alexandria conducted 20 years ago reported a prevalence of 7.6/100.000 population and a M:F ratio of 5.4:1. Objectives The aim of this multicenter study was to present the prevalence and pattern of Behcet’s disease (BD) in adult Egyptian patients. Methods This study included 1098 BD patients from 14 highly specialised centres over .Egypt during 2017 The demographic, clinical characteristics, laboratory findings, BD current activity form (BDCAF) and medications received were reported. Results The mean age of the patients was 36.3±10.2 years (16–73 years), disease duration was 6.7±5.2 years and they were 776 males and 322 females (2.4:1) and was 1.9:1 from Alexandria. Their mean age at disease onset was 29.8±8.7 years. 24.9% were diabetic and 30.7% hypertensive. The frequency of presenting cases was highest from Alexandria (41.3%) followed by Cairo (35.3%), Beni-Suef (6.4%), Assuit (6.1%), Sharkia (3.9%), Fayoum (3.2%), Minia (2.7%) and 1.1% from Ismailia. The total prevalence from those 8 major cities after adjusting for adults according to the 2017 population consensus was 4.35/100.000 inhabitants; 13.76 for Alexandria, 6.3 for Cairo and the highest prevalence in upper Egypt from Beni-Suef was 3.48 and the least from Minia (0.85). The prevalence from Sharkia was 0.93, Fayoum 1.51 and was 1.41 from Ismailia. All patients had oral ulcers while genital ulcers were present in 80%. The eyes were involved in 78.9%, cutaneous manifestations were present in 59.8%, arthritis in 34.7%, neuropsychiatric manifestations in 13.9%, gastrointestinal tract involvement in 11.5% and deep venous thrombosis in 23.1%. Their mean BDCAF was 4.6±4.6. The mean erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 29.1±19.9 mm/1sthr, C-reactive protein 11.3±15.2 mg/dl, haemoglobin content 13.3±6 g/dl, total leucocytic count 8.6±14.5 × 103/mm3, platelets 262.6±76.9 × 103/mm3 and serum uric acid 4.8±1.6 mg/dl. 90.7% were receiving steroids, 81.1% were receiving colchicine, while only 8.1% were receiving biologic therapy. Conclusions The prevalence of BD in Egypt is high and higher in Alexandria than previously reported. The male-to-female ratio is lower than previously found being more in harmony with the globally reported ratios. The pattern of clinical presentation is unique for this country yet comparable to the universally stated frequencies. Disclosure of Interest None declared