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Diagnosis of Behcet's disease

There is no specific test for Behcet’s disease. The diagnosis is based on the clinical signs and symptoms that are associated with the disease. Because it may take several months or even years for all the common symptoms to appear, the diagnosis may not be made for a long time.

Behcet's disease is diagnosed by specific patterns of symptoms and repeated outbreaks of them. These include recurrent mouth ulcers (more than three in a twelve month period) plus any two of the following symptoms:

• genital ulcers,
• skin sores such as lumps or boils,
• eye inflammation, and
• a positive pathergy test (skin prick test). This measures increased sensitivity of the skin, which occurs in Behcet's syndrome.

These symptoms are also associated with Crohn’s disease and Reiter’s syndrome, and your GP will need to rule these out before diagnosing Behcet’s disease. Your GP may also refer you to an eye specialist to identify possible complications related to eye inflammation.

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