Acute myelitis and Behçet's disease: Three case reports

Introduction. - Neurological manifestations in Behçet's disease usually consist of meningoencephalitis and cerebral thrombophlebitis. Myelitis is rare, especially when it is the only neurological manifestation. Exegesis. - The authors report three cases of acute myelitis complicating Behçet's disease demonstrated by magnetic resonance imaging. In two cases, Behçet's disease was revealed by myelitis. The three cases were transverse myelitis, two of which were juvenile Behçet's disease and two were meningomyelitis. Conclusion. - Magnetic resonance imaging can help guide diagnosis of myelitis in Behçet's disease. It can also be useful to assess the results of the treatment. Clinical symptoms of Behçet's disease must be searched for in the case of myelitis, especially for patients from Mediterranean countries. © 2000 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS.