The aim of this study was to elucidate whether autonomic nervous system dysfunction exists in patients with Behcet's disease by pupillometric tests. Thirty-one patients with Behcet's disease with a mean age of 41.3 years (range 21-64) and 41 control subjects with a mean age of 39.5 years (range 18-66) were selected for the study. To test the autonomic nervous system, four pupillometric techniques were used: pupil cycle time (PCT), dark-adapted pupil size (DAPS), 0.05% pilocarpine drop test, and 1% phenylephrine drop test. In all four tests, there were significant differences between the patients and controls. Mean PCTs were 1,156 ms (range 856-1,560 ms) and 919 ms (range 650-1,261 ms) in the patients and controls, respectively (p < 0.0001). The mean DAPS was 0.45 (range 0.31-0.66) in the patients, whereas it was 0.56 (range 0.42-0.67) in controls (p < 0.001). Iris sensitivity to both 0.05% pilocarpine and 1% phenylephrine showed significant differences between patients and controls, respectively (p < 0.05, p < 0.05). Among all four tests, only 0.05% pilocarpine sensitivity was correlated with the duration of Behcet's disease (p < 0.05). The results suggest that the autonomic nervous system innervating the iris is affected in Behcet's disease. This involvement may be due to the vasculitic nature of Behcet's disease.
C1 Inonu Univ, Sch Med, Dept Ophthalmol, Malatya, Turkey.
Inonu Univ, Sch Med, Dept Neurol, Malatya, Turkey.