BEHCET'S SYNDROME WITH INVOLVEMENT OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM

Abstract

In 1937 the Turkish dermatologist Hulusi Behcet¹ described a new clinical syndrome characterized by recurrent attacks of aphtha-like lesions in the mouth and on the genitalia and ocular changes. Two patients, a man and a woman, were observed who for nineteen and seven years respectively had suffered from these attacks. Many differential diagnoses were considered and ruled out, and as the picture could not be fitted into that of any known disease the author suggested a new clinical entity. In the smears from the lesions elementary bodies were found with Herzberg's victoria blue stain and Giemsa stain which resembled the elementary bodies of variola, and the belief was expressed that this new syndrome was of virus origin. Shortly after the publication of the first case, 3 other cases were observed, and on July 14, 1938 the Turkish Dermatologic Society² devoted a special session to the new