IN TIME VARIATION OF PATHERGY PHENOMENON IN BEHCET'S DISEASE

• Main Authors: C. Chams F. Davatchi, F. Shahram, M. Akbarian, F. Gharibdoost, A. Nadji. A.R. Jamshidi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 1996-07-01
• Series: Acta Medica Iranica
• Subjects: Behcet!@#$%s disease; pathergy phenomenon; pathcrgy test; skin hyper - reactivity
• Online Access: http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/4951.pdf&manuscript_id=4951

The pathergy phenomenon (PP) is one of the hallmarks of Behcet's Disease (BD). It has been reported to be positive from 17.5% to 83% of cases in different studies. PP is used as a diagnosis criterion in the Dilsen criteria, the Japan criteria, the International criteria, and the Iran criteria. It is therefore important to know wether PP is a fix manifestation of the disease or a cyclic manifestation like mucocutaneous disorders. To evaluate the charaterist'tc of P'P over a period of time, 77 patients were selected randomly (rcgaardless of their disease activity or their disease manifestations), to have a second pathergy test, lite pathcrgy test was performed by needle puncture on the skin of the forearm. Three methods were used: 1- needle prick with a 21 - gauge needle. 2- needle prick with a 25  gauge needle. 3- needle prick with a 25-guage needle and the injection of I drop of a sterile normal saline solution. Tlie result was evaluated 24 hours Liter. Tlie shortest interval between two tests-was one month and the longest 13 years. Die mean interval was 35.4 months, the standard deviation was 36.6 Tlurty-nine patients had a negative PI' at their first evaluation. At the second evaluation, 27 remained negative while 12 changed to positive. Thirty-eight patients had a positive PP at their first evaluation. At the second evaluation, 19 remained positive while 19 changed to negative. Although there is a difference between the two groups, it is not statistically significant (x=3.813 , p=0.05). Our data demonstrates that the pathergy phenomenon is waxing and waning, like the majority of other manifestations of Behcet's Disease. TJierefore, it may be repeated for diagnosis purposes.