Arthritis associated with Behcets disease
Approximately 50% of patients will develop signs or symptoms of joint involvement.
The arthritis is usually migratory, monoarticular or oligoarticular, and asymmetric, principally affecting the knees, ankles, elbows, and wrists. Arthritic flares typically last for 1 to 3 weeks, but can last longer. Enthesopathy is common especially in patients with acneiform lesions. Shoulders, spine, sacroiliac joints, hips, and small joints of the hands and feet are infrequently involved and should suggest another disease (e.g., HLA-B27-associated arthropathy). The arthritis may be polyarticular and occasionally resembles rheumatoid arthritis. Erosive changes are rare. Synovial fluid cell counts average 5000 to 10,000/mm 3 , and neutrophils predominate. Note that arthralgia is more common than arthritis in Behçet’s disease but lacks diagnostic value.