Yang Chengde, a professor of Rheumatology at Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of medicine, reminded that in view of the complex clinical manifestations of Behcet’s disease and the large differences in the severity of the disease among individuals, patients who suspected that their oral ulcer was “unusual” should go to the hospital in time.
Question: why should I see rheumatology department for oral ulcer
Miss Zhang works in the media and has been to the stomatology department for many times. She is treated as a simple oral ulcer, but the effect is not good. A few days ago, Miss Zhang went to the hospital again because of her recurrent oral ulcer. After asking her medical history in detail, the doctor did not prescribe medicine for her, but suggested that she go to the rheumatology department. After a comprehensive examination, Miss Zhang was diagnosed with Behcet’s disease. Yang Chengde said that Behcet’s disease is an autoimmune disease with “ulcer” as its main manifestation, rather than a general oral ulcer.
Miss Zhang wondered: how can oral ulcer be related to “immunity”? What is Behcet’s disease? Can it be cured? Reminder: oral ulcer is the first symptom of Behcet’s disease.
Behcet’s disease is a chronic disease of the whole body, which mostly occurs in the young and middle-aged. It is characterized by recurrent oral ulcer, genital ulcer, skin and eye lesions. Behcet’s disease is not a “new disease”. As early as B.C., Hippocrates, the ancient Greek philosopher and medical scientist, described this disease. However, due to its low incidence rate, the public has little knowledge of it.
Epidemiological data show that most cases of Behcet’s disease are concentrated in East Asia, the Middle East, the Mediterranean and other countries along the Silk Road, and very few in Europe and the United States. In Japan, the prevalence of the disease is 10-15 / 100000, and in northern China, the prevalence of the disease is not less than 14 / 100000.
Oral ulcer is usually the first symptom of Behcet’s disease, which is not very different from the general recurrent oral ulcer. Ulcers are multiple (generally 3-5), often involving the soft palate and oropharynx, with severe pain.
It starts as a “small nodule” and soon develops into an ulcer of rice grain to soybean size. It is round or irregular, with clear but irregular edges and different shades. There can be a light yellow covering at the bottom of the ulcer, and a red halo can be seen around it. At the same time, 80% of Behcet’s disease patients are complicated with genital ulcer (male patients mainly occur in the scrotum and penis, and female patients mainly occur in the labia, vagina and cervix). Generally, it is deeper and larger than oral ulcer, with less number, severe pain and slow healing.
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