Endocrine Abstracts

Central nervous system involvement is observed in 5-14% of Behçet’s disease and this form is called neurobehçet syndrome (NBS). There are two main forms of CNS involvement in Neurobehçet syndrome, in which parenchymal involvement and vascular involvement are prominent. Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), the most prominent form of vascular involvement, has been reported in 8% in Behçet’s disease and in approximately 18% in NBS. Although CVT is the most common cause of intracranial hypertension in Behçet’s disease, it can also manifest as a form of idiopathic intracranial hypertension in the absence of cerebral venous thrombosis. In this study, it was thought that these patients are in the risk group for the development of empty sella due to the risk of developing intracranial hypertension, which is not uncommon in patients with neurobehçet syndrome. The files and electronic data of 732 patients with behçet’s who were followed up in Eskişehir Osmangazi University Rheumatology Polyclinic between 2000-2021 were retrospectively scanned, and 74 patients with neurobehçet’s diagnosis were recruited from these patients. Gender of the patients, age at diagnosis, time elapsed between the diagnosis of neurobehçet syndrome and the diagnosis of Behçet’s disease, time spent as Behçet’s disease, the form of neurological involvement, the initial symptom of neurological involvement, the localization of the vessels involved in vascular NBS patients, the presence of empty sella and cases with primary empty sella. The pituitary hormone profile was examined. Of the 74 patients included in the study, 31 (41.9%) were female and 43 (58.1%) were male. In our study, 32 (43.2%) patients with parenchymal neurobehçet syndrome and 42 (56.8%) patients with vascular neurobehçet syndrome were found among neurobehçet syndrome patients. Empty sella was detected in 19 (25.6%) of 74 patients in our study. Of the empty sella (n=19) cases, 13 (68.4%) were vascular and 6 (31.6%) were parenchymal patients. There was no statistically significant difference between these two groups in terms of the presence of empty sella. Hypopituitarism was detected in 2 of the cases accompanied by primary empty sella syndrome.

Keywords: neurobehçet, empty sella, intracranial hypertension, hypopituitarism