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The diagnostic role of pathergy test in patients with Behçet’s disease from the Western Europe

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Abstract

The aim of the study is to evaluate the frequency and features of positive pathergy test (PPT) in Italy, its role in the diagnosis of Behçet’s disease (BD), and any association with other BD-related manifestations. 52 BD patients, 52 patients with axial spondyloarthritis (ax-SpA), and 26 healthy controls (HCs) underwent intradermal injection of normal saline and intradermal needle soaked with fresh self-saliva. The results of pathergy tests were statistically analysed in the light of demographic, clinical, and therapeutic features of subjects enrolled. Pathergy test performed with saline resulted always negative in all groups. Skin prick test using self-saliva resulted in the occurrence of a papule in 3 (5.8%) BD patients and in 1 (1.9%) patient with ax-SpA. A ≥ 15 mm erythematous area surrounding the needle prick site was observed in 22 (42.3%) BD patients, 5 (9.6%) patients with ax-SpA, and 2 (7.7%) HCs (p = 0.00002). The frequency of skin erythema was significantly more frequent in patients with BD than those with ax-SpA (p < 0.0001) and HCs (p = 0.003). No statistically significant differences were observed between ax-SpA patients and HCs (p = 1.000). The occurrence of skin erythema at pathergy test was not associated with any BD-related clinical manifestation. Erythema at self-saliva prick test presented a sensitivity of 42.31% (CI 28.73–56.80%) and a specificity of 91.03% (CI 82.38–96.32%). The development of a ≥ 15 mm erythematous area at self-saliva prick test could be sufficient to unveil the hyper-reactivity of the innate immune system in BD patients from Western Europe, where the development of skin erythema shows good sensitivity and specificity toward the diagnosis of BD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Sciences, Surgery and Neurosciences, Research Center of Systemic Autoinflammatory Diseases and Behçet’s Disease Clinic and Rheumatology-Ophthalmology Collaborative Uveitis Center, Policlinico ‘‘Le Scotte’’, University of Siena, Viale Bracci 16, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Antonio Vitale, Virginia Berlengiero, Valeria Caggiano, Sara Barneschi, Mariam Mourabi, Jurgen Sota, Stefano Gentileschi, Bruno Frediani & Luca Cantarini

  2. University Department Pro.Sa.M.I. “G. D’Alessandro”, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy

    Maria Cristina Maggio

  3. Clinical Pediatrics, Department of Molecular Medicine and Development, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Carla Gaggiano & Maria Tarsia

  4. Ophthalmology Unit, Department of Medicine, Surgery and Neurosciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Gian Marco Tosi & Claudia Fabiani

  5. Rheumatology Unit, Department of Emergency and Organ Transplantation, University of Bari, Bari, Italy

    Giuseppe Lopalco

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  1. Antonio Vitale
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Correspondence to Luca Cantarini.

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Ethical statements

The study has been approved by the local Ethics Committee of Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, Siena, Italy (AIDA Project; Ref. No.14,951). The study protocol conformed to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki; informed consent was obtained from all patients and HC enrolled.

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Informed consent was obtained from all patients and healthy controls enrolled; animals have not been included in the present study.

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The original online version of this article was revised: In this article the author name is wrongly mentioned Vitale Antonio instead of Antonio Vitale. It has been corrected.

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Vitale, A., Berlengiero, V., Caggiano, V. et al. The diagnostic role of pathergy test in patients with Behçet’s disease from the Western Europe. Intern Emerg Med 18, 77–83 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-022-03117-3

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