Behcet s syndrome

Daily administration of colchicine is useful for the prevention of attacks of familial Mediterranean fever (familial paroxysmal polyserositis) and for prevention and treatment of amyloidosis in such patients. Colchicine appears to benefit patients with primary biliary cirrhosis in terms of improvement of liver function tests and perhaps of survival. Colchicine also has been employed to treat a variety of skin disorders, including psoriasis and Behcet s syndrome. 

Colchicine is an alkaloid obtained from various Colchicum species. It is used for the relief of acute gout and as a prophylaxis of acute attacks. Colchicine is used in several other conditions including amyloidosis, Behcet s syndrome, pyoderma, and gangrenosis. 

Diseases in which immunosuppression may be useful include tissue transplantation, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic active hepatitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, glomerulonephritis, nephrotic syndrome, some haemolytic anaemias and thrombocytopenias, uveitis, myasthenia gravis, polyarteritis, polymyositis, systemic sclerosis, Behcet s syndrome. 

Azathioprine is indicated in renal homotransplantation (five-year patient survival rate of 35%) in rheumatoid arthritis (for patients with severe, active, and erosive disease not responding to conventional therapies) and in chronic ulcerative colitis, myasthenia gravis, and Behcet s syndrome (adverse effects may offset its limited value). As with other cytotoxic drugs, azathioprine can affect rapidly growing cells, resulting in leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and gastrointestinal toxicity. In addition, hepatotoxicity (cholestasis) has been reported. Many of the general problems of immunosuppression, such as increased risk of infections, can also occur. 

Sjogren s syndrome Behcet s syndrome Ankylosing spondylitis... 

Cadman EC, Lundberg WB, Mitchell MS. Pulmonary manifestations in Behcet s syndrome. Case report and review of the literature. Arch Intern Med 1976 136(8) 944—947. 

The autoimmune rheumatic diseases consists of Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), Spondylarthritis (SpA), Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), Polymyositis, Dermatomyositis, Polymyalgia Rheumatica, Acute Temporal Arteritis, Giant Cell Arteritis, Behcet s Disease, Sjorgren s Syndrome, Felty s Syndrome and Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD). Spondylarthritis (SpA) can be subdivided in Reactive Arthritis (ReA), Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS), Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA), Arthritis associated with the inflammatory bowel diseases are Crohn s disease and Ulcerative Colitis (IBD), Undifferentiated SpA (UspA) and Sacro-ilitis, Juvenile SpA and Acute Anterior Uveitis (AAU). 

Dermatological system (erythroderma, icthyosis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, Behcet s disease, acute blistering diseases)... 

Bayraktar, Y., Balkanci, F., Bayraktar, M., Calguneri, M. Budd-Chiari syndrome a common comphcation of Behcet s disease. Amer. J. Gastroenterol. 1997 92 858 -862... 

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