title: Morbus Behçet - a rare disease in Central Europe.
abstract: Behçet's disease (BD) is a multiorgan inflammatory disease of complex and not entirely elucidated etiology, which was originally diagnosed in patients with aphthous stomatitis, genital ulcerations and ocular manifestations. The entity is endemic in countries of Eastern and Central Asia, especially Turkey and Iran, but rarely seen in Central Europe. As there are no specific diagnostic laboratory tests or histopathologic findings which confirm the preliminary diagnosis, the final diagnosis should be based on clinical criteria. Frequently a definitive diagnosis is established within several years or months after the first manifestations appear. The increased number of cases, recently described worldwide also in the Polish population, indicates that the disease could spread out of endemic areas. The aim of this manuscript is to present the clinical picture, diagnosis criteria and therapeutic approaches of this "international disease" which currently is observed not only in emigrants from Asia but also in native Polish citizens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woźniacka
authors.affiliation: University of Social Sciences, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sysa-Jędrzejowska
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Rehabilitation, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jurowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious and Liver Diseases, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Maciej
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jabłkowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kot
keywords: Behçet's disease; blood vessel inflammation; classification