title: The prevalence and clinical characteristics of esophageal involvement in patients with Behçet's disease: a single center experience in Korea.
abstract: While a significant amount of clinical information has been reported concerning intestinal involvement in Behçet's disease (BD), esophageal involvement in BD has not yet been studied extensively. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of esophageal involvement in BD and its clinical characteristics. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 842 patients diagnosed with BD at a single tertiary institution in Korea between January 1990 and June 2006. Of the 842 patients with BD, 129 patients (15.3%) experienced upper gastrointestinal symptoms that required inspection through esophagogastroduodenoscopy. Esophageal involvement was found in 6 (4.7%) of the 129 patients. The activity index of Behçet's disease did not differ among patients with or without esophageal involvement. All patients with esophageal involvement responded well to medical treatment and no one experienced serious complications. The results of our study demonstrate that the prevalence of esophageal involvement in BD is very low and that most patients with such involvement face few complications and respond well to medical treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Institute of Gastroenterology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Woo
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Jae Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Cheon
authors.forename: Jie Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sang Kil
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Tae Il
authors.initials: TI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yong Chan
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Won Ho
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016145:Endoscopy, Digestive System; D004935:Esophageal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies