Treatment of Behcet's Disease

Chang, Hyun Kyu

Abstract

Behcet's disease is a chronic inflammatory disease with various organ involvements, its pathogenesis being unclear. It runs the clinical course of unpredictable exacerbations and remissions. In addition to a triple syndrome of oral ulceration, genital ulceration, and uveitis, there may be the involvement of other systems, such as joints, gastrointestinal tract, central nervous system, vessels, heart, or lungs. Although we have more information about the agents, through the controlled studies, that have been already available to us, the considerable portions of managements have been still done empirically. In addition, the major goal of treatment is to suppress an inflammatory status of the disease and therapy should be tailored according to the disease activity and involved organ. In these days, promising data have also been accumulated in the tumor necrosis factor inhibitors, especially in Behcet's patients with severe manifestations refractory to conventional treatments.