Antibodies to oral mucosa in patients with ocular Behcet's disease.

A method is reported for the identification of cytoplasmic antibodies in patients with Behcet's disease and uveitis. The assay appears positive in at least 80% of patients in an American population with definite or probable Behcet's disease and 60% of patients from a Turkish population with definite Behcet's disease, with a false-positive rate of 6.5% among non-Behcet's ocular inflammatory disorders with vasculitis. When refined, this test may prove useful to the ophthalmologist in selecting out those patients with Behcet's disease from the larger group of patients with uveitis for whom no systemic etiology is identified.