Successful treatment with adalimumab in a patient with coexisting Behçet's disease and ankylosing spondylitis

Abstract

The objective is to report a patient with concomitant ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and Behçet's disease (BD) successfully treated with adalimumab. A 44-year-old male diagnosed as AS applied to our outpatient clinic with complaints of morning stiffness, pain and limitation of motion at spine, concurrence of oral and genital ulcerated lesions. He was on sulfasalazine together with different NSAIDs for the past 1 year. According to the criteria of International Study Group, he was diagnosed as BD. The patient was considered as refractory to current treatment and adalimumab treatment was started. During follow-up, not only AS was in remission, but also no new oral and genital ulcerations appeared. There were no complications related to the use of anti-TNF? therapy. In our case it was observed that anti-TNF? therapy, specifically adalimumab, was effective for symptoms of both AS and BD. © 2009 Springer-Verlag.