Objective: To investigate the association between the development of central nervous system (CNS) symptoms in patients with Behçet disease and medical therapy.
Design: Retrospective cohort study.
Participants: A total of 317 patients with Behçet disease with ocular complications who visited Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo, Japan, between 1978 and 1994.
Main outcome measures: The incidence of CNS symptoms in different medical therapies.
Results: Twenty-one (6.6%) of the 317 patients developed CNS symptoms, namely neuro-Behçet disease. Of the 21 patients, 12 were undergoing cyclosporine therapy. Of the 47 patients who underwent cyclosporine therapy, 12 (25.5%) developed CNS symptoms, whereas only 9 (3.3%) of 270 patients who did not undergo cyclosporine therapy developed CNS symptoms.
Conclusions: Cyclosporine in the treatment of Behçet disease appears to cause neurotoxicity or to accelerate the development of CNS symptoms. Thus, neurologic complications appear to represent a major side effect of cyclosporine in the treatment of patients with Behçet disease.