FRI0578 Increased vein wall thickness in behÇet’s syndrome

Background Lower extremity vein thrombosis (LEVT) is the key feature of vascular involvement in Behcet’s syndrome (BS). Vein wall thickness (VWT) is proposed to be a surrogate marker of venous disease. A pilot MR study done in 7 BS patients and controls, had demonstrated increased VWT and signal enhancement in the lower extremity veins of BS patients without vascular disease.1 Another study, using USG, found that VWT was increased among BS patients without vascular disease compared to patients with ankylosing spondylitis and healthy controls.2 Objectives We reassessed VWT in proximal lower extremity veins in BS patients with LEVT and suitable controls in a formal, masked protocol. Methods We studied 47 (40 M/ 7 F) BS patients with LEVT, 50 (43 M/ 7 F) BS patients without any vascular involvement and 38 (31 M/ 7 F) age and gender matched apparently healthy controls. Two independent radiologists, blinded to the diagnosis of BS, used USG to measure VWT of common femoral vein (CFV), superficial femoral vein (SFV) and vena saphena magna (VSM) in both legs. Results As shown in table 1, mean age at disease onset and the disease duration were similar between BS study groups. The mean age at thrombosis onset of the patients with LEVT was 26.4±5.8 years. There was good concordance between the 2 observers (kappa: 0.9) The mean VWT was significantly increased among both BS patients with LEVT and those without any vascular involvement when compared to the healthy controls while those with LEVT had the thickest veins. Conclusions VWT of proximal deep and superficial lower extremity veins was found to be increased among BS patients without any clinical and radiological vascular involvement. References [1] Ambrose N, et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of vein wall thickness in patients with Behcet’s syndrome. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2014. [2] Alibaz-Oner F, et al. Venous vessel wall thickness in lower extremity is increased in male behcet’s disease patients without vascular involvement. Ann Rheum Dis76(Suppl 2):417. Disclosure of Interest None declared