Immunosuppressive treatment of Behcet's disease.

Thirty patients with Behcet's disease were treated with immunosuppressive drugs, 25 with Imuran, 5 with Leukerin and 2 with both these drugs. Daily administration of 50-75 mg of Imuran over a period of 1 year alleviated the ocular symptoms in 16% of patients, was slightly effective in 20%, and ineffective in 64%. Imuran therapy was also seen to alleviate the extraocular pathology, such as stomatitis, erythema, and arthralgia. Leukerin proved difficult to prescribe over a long period because of severe side effects.