Postoperative Thrombosis of the Superior Caval Vein in a Patient with Primary Asymptomatic Behçet's Disease

Abstract

Behçet's disease is a systemic vasculitis of unknown cause. In 1937 Behçet described 3 patients with oral and genital ulceration and hypopyon iritis. The disease shows worldwide distribution with the highest prevalence in the eastern Mediterranean region and Japan. The most common manifestation is recurrent oral ulceration. Other manifes tations include genital ulceration, eye lesions, skin lesion, arthritis or arthralgia, and cerebral lesions. Venous thrombosis and thrombophlebitis are also recorded as manifes tations. One of the causes of superior caval vein obstruction is Behçet's disease. Especially in Turkey, this association is common. Management must be directed against the primary disease plus the caval vein obstruction. The authors describe a patient with multisymp tomatic presentation of Behçet's disease with thrombosis of the superior caval veins and successful lysis with streptokinase.

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