title: Venous claudication in Behçet's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We have previously shown that venous claudication is significantly more common among patients with Behçet's disease (BD) and had proposed that this was a "venous claudication" because it was specifically more common among men with lower extremity venous thrombosis (LEVT). With this study, we reassessed the presence of claudication prospectively by a questionnaire and a treadmill exercise.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied all men: 61 BD patients with LEVT, 40 BD patients without vascular involvement, and 56 healthy controls. Venous claudication was assessed by a standardized questionnaire. In addition, patients were asked to walk on a treadmill for 10 minutes. Patients who experienced symptoms consistent with venous claudication but still able to walk and those who had to give up the treadmill exercise were noted. Ankle-brachial pressure indices measured before and after the treadmill test did not indicate any peripheral arterial disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-one BD patients with LEVT (34%), two BD patients without vascular involvement (5%), and none of the healthy controls described venous claudication when assessed with the questionnaire (P < .001). There were significantly more patients who described claudication during the treadmill exercise among patients with LEVT (21%) compared with those with no vascular disease (8%) and healthy controls (2%) (P = .002). Finally, only those with LEVT (6 of 61) had to stop the treadmill challenge because of claudication.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Venous claudication is a severe and frequent symptom, being present in up to one third of BD patients with LEVT. It impairs walking capacity in 10% of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Serdal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ugurlu
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: eseyahi@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Emire
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Seyahi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Veysel
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Oktay
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Fatih
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kantarci
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tuzun
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Institute of Cardiology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zerrin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yigit
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Caner
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.affiliation: Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hasan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yazici
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D006801:Humans; D007383:Intermittent Claudication / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D035002:Lower Extremity / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014680:Veins / Q000503:physiopathology; D016138:Walking; D055815:Young Adult