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Target Organ Associations in Turkish Patients with Behçet's Disease: A Cross Sectional Study by Exploratory Factor Analysis RECEP TUNC, ERKANI KEYMAN, MELIKE MELIKOGLU, IZZET FRESKO, and HASAN YAZICI
ABSTRACT. Methods. We studied target organ associations in 272 consecutive patients with BD. The occurrence of any of the clinical manifestations related to BD within the previous 3 months was sought by history questionnaire completed by a rheumatologist and by physical examination. Factor analysis was used to analyze the data. Results. Four factors were identified by factor analysis of variables oral and genital ulcers, erythema nodosum, papulopustular skin lesions, uveitis, superficial and deep vein thrombosis, joint, arterial, neurological, and gastrointestinal involvement; the 4 identified factors explained 69% of the original information of the matrix. There was an association between oral ulcers, genital ulcers, and erythema nodosum (Factor 1); and between superficial and deep vein thrombosis (Factor 2). Uveitis was identified as a distinct feature, and was negatively associated with erythema nodosum (Factor 3) only among the females. There was also an association between papulopustular skin lesions and joint involvement (Factor 4). Factors 2 and 3 had higher scores in males (p = 0.001 and p = 0.009, respectively) versus females. Conclusion. We studied clinical features of BD in Turkish patients. The 4 factors we identified by factor analysis differ from a previous study from Israel, probably due to different methodologies used in the 2 studies. One factor described in our study, the association between papulopustular lesions and arthritis, supports findings of our recent study. A recognized association between superficial and deep vein thrombosis was also confirmed. (J Rheumatol 2002;29:2393-6) Key Indexing Terms:
BEHÇET'S SYNDROME From the Behçet's Syndrome Research Centre, Department of Rheumatology, Cerrahpasa Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey. R. Tunc, MD, Research Fellow; E. Keyman, Emeritus Statistician; M. Melikoglu, MD, Research Fellow; I. Fresko, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine; H. Yazici, MD, Professor of Medicine. Address reprint requests to Dr. R. Tunc, Selcuk Universitesi, Meram Tip Fakultesi, Ic Hastaliklari ABD, Konya, Turkey. E-mail: trecep@hotmail.com Submitted June 19, 2001; revision accepted May 22, 2002.
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