Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of Behcet’s disease among adult patients consulting three major clinics in a Druze town in Israel

  • Brief Report
  • Published:
Clinical Rheumatology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To evaluate the prevalence of Behçet’s disease (BD) in a Druze community in Israel, we conducted a two-stage clinic-based survey in an Israeli Druze town. The first stage aimed to identify patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) in all patients who visited three of the largest clinics in the town during a period of 6 months. The second stage aimed to identify those patients with RAS who fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for BD according to the International Study Group (ISG) criteria. One thousand and eighty-three out of about 4,000 registered subjects were interviewed, 63 of whom had RAS (5.8%). Two patients fulfilled the ISG criteria for BD, resulting in a calculated prevalence in the range of 2:1,083–2:4,000, i.e., 50–185:100,000. Another two patients with oral and genital aphthosis but without eye or skin lesions were diagnosed as suspected BD. The very high prevalence of BD, as found in our study, places the Druze among the populations with the highest prevalence of the disease all over the world, though selection biases could account for overestimation as well as underestimation of the actual BD prevalence. Our findings call for genetic studies to explore whether there is a genetic predisposition to BD in this population.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Kaklamani VG, Vaiopoulos G, Kaklamanis PG (1998) Behcet's disease. Semin Arthritis Rheum 27:197–217

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Yazici H, Yurdakul S, Hamuryudan V (1999) Behcet's syndrome. Curr Opin Rheumatol 11:53–57

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sakane T, Takeno M, Suzuki N, Inaba G (1999) Behcet's disease. N Engl J Med 341:1284–1291

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Azizlerli G, Kose AA, Sarica R, Gul A, Tutkun IT, Kulac M et al (2003) Prevalence of Behcet's disease in Istanbul, Turkey. Int J Dermatol 42:803–806

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Cakir N, Dervis E, Benian O, Pamuk ON, Sonmezates N, Rahimoglu R et al (2004) Prevalence of Behcet's disease in rural western Turkey: a preliminary report. Clin Exp Rheumatol 22:S53–S55

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Calamia KT, Wilson FC, Icen M, Crowson CS, Gabriel SE, Kremers HM (2009) Epidemiology and clinical characteristics of Behcet's disease in the US: a population-based study. Arthritis Rheum 61:600–604

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Davatchi F, Jamshidi AR, Banihashemi AT, Gholami J, Forouzanfar MH, Moradi M et al (2007) Prevalence of Behcet's disease in Iran: a WHO-ILAR COPCORD stage I study APLAR. J Rheumatol 10:239–243

    Google Scholar 

  8. Idil A, Gurler A, Boyvat A, Caliskan D, Ozdemir O, Isik A et al (2002) The prevalence of Behcet's disease above the age of 10 years. The results of a pilot study conducted at the Park Primary Health Care Center in Ankara, Turkey. Ophthalmic Epidemiol 9:325–331

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Jaber L, Milo G, Halpern GJ, Krause I, Weinberger A (2002) Prevalence of Behcet's disease in an Arab community in Israel. Ann Rheum Dis 61:365–366

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Krause I, Yankevich A, Fraser A, Rosner I, Mader R, Zisman D et al (2007) Prevalence and clinical aspects of Behcet's disease in the north of Israel. Clin Rheumatol 26:555–560

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Mahr A, Belarbi L, Wechsler B, Jeanneret D, Dhote R, Fain O et al (2008) Population-based prevalence study of Behcet's disease: differences by ethnic origin and low variation by age at immigration. Arthritis Rheum 58:3951–3959

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Papoutsis NG, Abdel-Naser MB, Altenburg A, Orawa H, Kotter I, Krause L et al (2006) Prevalence of Adamantiades-Behcet's disease in Germany and the municipality of Berlin: results of a nationwide survey. Clin Exp Rheumatol 24:S125

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Salvarani C, Pipitone N, Catanoso MG, Cimino L, Tumiati B, Macchioni P et al (2007) Epidemiology and clinical course of Behcet's disease in the Reggio Emilia area of Northern Italy: a seventeen-year population-based study. Arthritis Rheum 57:171–178

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Tunes RS, Anjos TC, Martins GB, Barreto ER, Santiago MB (2009) Prevalence of Behcet's syndrome in patients with recurrent aphthous ulcerations in Brazil. Rheumatol Int 29:875–878

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Yurdakul S, Gunaydin I, Tuzun Y, Tankurt N, Pazarli H, Ozyazgan Y et al (1988) The prevalence of Behcet's syndrome in a rural area in northern Turkey. J Rheumatol 15:820–822

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Zouboulis CC (1999) Epidemiology of Adamantiades-Behcet's disease. Ann Med Interne (Paris) 150:488–498

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Zouboulis CC, Kotter I, Djawari D, Kirch W, Kohl PK, Ochsendorf FR et al (1997) Epidemiological features of Adamantiades-Behcet's disease in Germany and in Europe. Yonsei Med J 38:411–422

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Al-Dalaan A, AlBallaa S, AlSukait M, Mousa M, Bahabri SA, Biyari T (1997) The prevalence of Behcet's disease in Al Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. In: Hamza M (ed) Behcet's disease. Pub Adhouva, Tunisia, pp 170–172

    Google Scholar 

  19. Assaad-Khalil SH, Kamel FA, Ismai EA (1997) Starting a regional registry for patients with Behçet's disease in North West Nile Delta region in Egypt. In: Hamza M (ed) Behcet's disease. Pub Adhouva, Tunisia, pp 173–176

    Google Scholar 

  20. Shahram F, Davatchi F, Akbarian M, Gharibdoost F, Nadji A, Jamshidi AR (1997) The 1996 survey of Behcet's disease in Iran, study of 3153 cases. In: Hamza M (ed) Behcet's disease. Pub Adhoua, Tunis, pp 165–169

    Google Scholar 

  21. Davatchi F (1998) Epidemiology of Behçet's disease in Middle East and Asia, in 8th International Congress on Behçet's Disease. In: Olivieri I, Salvarani C, Cantini F (eds) Program and abstracts. Prex, Milano, p 42

    Google Scholar 

  22. Nakae K, Masaki F, Hashimoto T, Inaba G, Mochizuki M, Sakane T (1993) Recent epidemiological features of Behcet's disease in Japan. In: Wechsler B, Godeau P (eds) Behcet's disease. International congress series. Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam, pp 145–151

    Google Scholar 

  23. Chamberlain MA (1979) Epidemiological features of Behçet's syndrome. In: Lehner F, Barnes CG (eds) Behçet's syndrome. Clinical and immunologic features. Proceedings of a conference sponsored by the Royal Society of Medicine. Academic, London, pp 213–222

    Google Scholar 

  24. O'Duffy JD (1980) Summary of an international symposium on Behçet's disease. J Rheumatol 5:229–233

    Google Scholar 

  25. International Study Group for Behcet's Disease (1990) Criteria for diagnosis of Behcet's disease. Lancet 335:1078–1080

    Google Scholar 

  26. Krause I, Mader R, Sulkes J, Paul M, Uziel Y, Adawi M et al (2001) Behcet's disease in Israel: the influence of ethnic origin on disease expression and severity. J Rheumatol 28:1033–1036

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Krause I, Rosen Y, Kaplan I, Milo G, Guedj D, Molad Y et al (1999) Recurrent aphthous stomatitis in Behcet's disease: clinical features and correlation with systemic disease expression and severity. J Oral Pathol Med 28:193–196

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Chung YM, Yeh TS, Sheu MM, Chen MS, Wen MS, Tsai HY et al (1990) Behcet's disease with ocular involvement in Taiwan: a joint survey of six major ophthalmological departments. J Formos Med Assoc 89:413–417

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Davatchi F, Shahram F, Chams C, Chams H, Akbarian M, Gharibdoost F et al (2000) Epidemiology of Behcet's disease in Iran. In: Bang D, Lee ES, Lee S (eds) Behcet's disease. Seoul

  30. Mousa AR, Marafie AA, Rifai KM, Dajani AI, Mukhtar MM (1986) Behcet's disease in Kuwait, Arabia. A report of 29 cases and a review. Scand J Rheumatol 15:310–332

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Shlush LI, Behar DM, Yudkovsky G, Templeton A, Hadid Y, Basis F et al (2008) The Druze: a population genetic refugium of the Near East. PLoS ONE 3:e2105

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Disclosures

None

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine B, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petach Tikva, Israel

    Pinchas Klein & Abraham Weinberger

  2. Department of Internal Medicine F, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petach Tikva, 49100, Israel

    Ilan Krause

  3. Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Ilan Krause

  4. Clalit Health Services, Daliat El Carmel Clinics, Daliat El-Carmel, Israel

    Vered Jean Altmann, Salim Halabi & Saeed Fachereldeen

Authors
  1. Pinchas Klein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abraham Weinberger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vered Jean Altmann
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Salim Halabi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Saeed Fachereldeen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ilan Krause
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ilan Krause.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Klein, P., Weinberger, A., Altmann, V.J. et al. Prevalence of Behcet’s disease among adult patients consulting three major clinics in a Druze town in Israel. Clin Rheumatol 29, 1163–1166 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-010-1472-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-010-1472-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation