Behcet's syndrome progressing to gastrointestinal perforation in a West African male

Abstract

B ’ syndrome (BS) is a multisystem, human leucocyte antigen (HLA)-associated vasculitis of unknown origin which was initially described as a triad of recurrent oral and genital ulceration and relapsing iritis [1–3]. The diagnosis is still based primarily on clinical criteria. It has subsequently been shown to occur most commonly in the countries along the historical ‘silk route’ [4] from the far east to the Mediterranean. To our knowledge, there are two reports about BS in sub-Saharan Africa, one describing five patients in South Africa [5] and one in a Ugandan woman with HIV infection [6]. We describe a man from West Africa, from where there have been no reports of the disease [4], who presented with genital ulceration and rapidly developed the rare complication of gastrointestinal perforation.