Chronic active hepatitis and Behçet's syndrome.

In a patient with Behcet's syndrome the finding of five times the normal level of serum transaminase accompanied by weakness may be correlated to the syndrome itself. We performed needle biopsy of the liver in our patient which showed piecemeal necrosis and portal lympho-monocytic infiltration extending into the lobule. It is interesting that HLA B5 and B27 antigens were present. Simultaneous occurrence of chronic active hepatitis and Behcet's syndrome may imply the same autoimmune pathogenesis, as we suggest in this work.