Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
3366761 | Joint Bone Spine | 2010 | 5 Pages |
BackgroundBehcet's disease (BD) may complicate with arterial and venous thrombosis. The purpose of this work is to evaluate in an Italian group of BD patients with thrombotic events a large panel of inherited and acquired thrombophilic factors.MethodsThirty BD patients, of which nine with previously arterial or venous thrombosis and 21 without, underwent the following investigations: plasma antithrombin activity, protein C activity, free protein S level, sensitivity to APC, total plasma homocysteine concentration, serum folate level, determination of anti-phospholipid antibodies, serum Lp(a) levels, tests for gene polymorphisms of factor V Leiden, prothrombin and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase genes. Tests for the gene polymorphisms were also performed in a group of healthy control subjects.ResultsAll the six patients with arterial or deep venous thrombosis showed thrombophilic conditions such as protein C or protein S deficiency (one case each), hyperhomocysteinemia (two cases), positivity of anti-phospholipid antibodies associated with APC resistance or hyperhomocysteinemia (one case each). Among three subjects with superficial thrombophlebitis only one showed a mild hyperhomocysteinemia. No differences were found between BD patients and control subjects concerning polymorphisms of the genes considered. Among BD patients the Factor V H1299R mutation showed a weak association with venous thrombosis (P = 0.048).ConclusionIn BD patients different concomitant significant thrombophilic risk factors may contribute to the development of thrombotic events. Patients affected by vasculo-Behcet should be evaluated for the presence of coexisting major thrombophilic conditions.