The expanding spectrum of a disease. Behçet's disease associated with amyloidosis.

In this report, we present a series of 6 patients with Behçet's disease (BD) associated with amyloidosis whose illnesses date back at least 4 years. In all the cases, nephrotic syndrome heralded the onset of amyloidosis, which was diagnosed by percutaneous kidney biopsies. After the diagnosis of amyloidosis, all subjects received colchicine, and steroids were discontinued. Three patients have benefited from treatment. It was suggested that amyloidosis may be an intrinsic feature of BD or that the suppurative lesions may play a role in the accumulation of amyloid in the tissues. The literature was reviewed and discussed.