Neonatal Behcet's syndrome in an infant of a mother with the disease

Abstract

Behcet's disease is reported in a newborn infant of a mother with the disease. The mother had recurrent orogenital ulcers, pustulonecrotic skin lesions, arthritis, thrombophlebitis, and colonic ulcers. Shortly after birth the infant presented with transient orogenital ulcerations and pustular cutaneous lesions. On healing, depressed scars developed which were very similar to those of the mother. The finding of circulating immune complexes in the mother's serum gives some support to the hypothesis that the infant's transient illness was caused by transplacental passage of maternal antibodies.