The pustular skin lesions in Behcet's syndrome are not sterile.
BACKGROUND
The pustular skin lesions of Behcet's syndrome (BS) are clinically and histopathologically similar to ordinary acne, but BS patients get lesions at sites not commonly involved in acne, such as the legs and arms. The microbiology of these lesions has not been studied adequately.


OBJECTIVE
To make a detailed study of the microbiology of BS lesions.


METHODS
Subjects were patients with BS and acne vulgaris. Material was extracted from pustular lesions and directly plated to aerobic and anaerobic media by sterile swab. Anaerobic bacteria were identified using a commercial kit (API 20A). Aerobic bacteria were defined by standard procedures.


RESULTS
58 BS patients and 37 acne patients were studied. Pustules were cultured from the following sites: BS patients (70 pustules): face (17), back (30), chest (2), arm (4), leg (17); acne patients (37 pustules): face (27), back (6), chest (1), arm (2), leg (1). At least one type of microorganism was grown from each pustule. Staphylococcus aureus (41/70, 58.6%, p = 0.008) and Prevotella spp (17/70, 24.3%, p = 0.002) were significantly more common in pustules from BS patients, and coagulase negative staphylococci (17/37, 45.9%, p = 0.007) in pustules from acne patients.


CONCLUSIONS
The pustular lesions of BS are not usually sterile. The microbiology of these lesions is different from ordinary acne. It remains to be determined whether the infection is secondary or has any pathogenic implications.
Istanbul University, Cerrahpasa Medical School, Division of Rheumatology, Istanbul, turkey.
G
G
Hatemi
H
H
Bahar
S
S
Uysal
C
C
Mat
F
F
Gogus
S
S
Masatlioglu
K
K
Altas
H
H
Yazici
D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000382:microbiology; D000328:Adult; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000382:microbiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012867:Skin / Q000382:microbiology*; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000150:complications*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000302:isolation & purification*