[Clinical and immunological studies of Behçet's disease].

8 patients with clinically diagnosed Behçet disease were immunologically investigated. Uveitis was present in 7 of these patients. Although uveitis is a rare presentation of Behçet's disease, it tends to be bilateral when it does occur and to involve both the anterior and posterior segments repeatedly. Nowadays it is rare to observe a hypopyon, thanks to early initiation of therapy. In the late stages, recurrent vitreous haemorrhage complicates the course of the disease and can lead to blindness. HLA-B5 can frequently be demonstrated in patients with Behçet's disease. Detailed serological investigations, as measles hemagglutination inhibition test+complement fixation test (CFT), rubella hemagglutination inhibition test, hepatitis HB2 antigen, adenovirus antigen, varicella zoster CFT, mumps CFT, herpes simplex CFT, anticytomegalovirus IgM and IgG, toxoplasmosis immunofluorescence, tuberculosis Middlebrock-Dubois, were unable to uncover a connection with past or present infections. Determinations of haptoglobulin, lactate dehydrogenase, albumin and ceruloplasmin showed nothing worth remarking. Electrophoresis can indicate the duration of the illness. In 1 patient the lymphocyte adherence inhibition test was abnormal.