Budd-Chiari syndrome in a 25-year-old woman with Behçet's disease: a case report and review of the literature

J Med Case Rep. 2011 Feb 7:5:52. doi: 10.1186/1752-1947-5-52.

Abstract

Introduction: The risk that patients with Behçet's disease will develop thrombotic complications has been previously described. Although it is distributed worldwide, Behçet's disease is rare in the Americas and Europe. Even though the pathogenic mechanisms of vascular complications of Budd-Chiari syndrome in patients with Behçet's disease are unknown, severe vascular complications of Budd-Chiari syndrome associated with Behçet's disease seem to affect mainly young men.

Case presentation: We report a case of Budd-Chiari syndrome, a severe vascular complication that developed in a 25-year-old Afro-Brazilian woman with Behçet's disease.

Conclusion: Severe vascular complications of Budd-Chiari syndrome in patients with Behçet's disease are much more common in young adult male patients; we present a rare case of Budd-Chiari syndrome in a young Afro-Brazilian woman with Behçet's disease.