[Cerebral venous thrombosis disclosing Behçet disease].

Background: Behçet's disease is very occasionally revealed by thrombophlebitis in children. Dural sinus thrombosis can be one of its complication.

Case report: A 14 year-old boy of Mediterranean origin was admitted for acute meningitis with temperature of 40 degrees C. His CSF contained 24 cells/ml and 0.33 g/l protein; it was sterile. The RBC sedimentation rate was 84 mm. Other investigations, including brain scan, were negative. The condition became worse, with a deterioration of visual acuity, attack of aphthous stomatitis and skin lesions at points of puncture. There was papilledema with retinal vascularitis. A second brain scan and MRI showed sagittal sinus thrombosis. The condition improved immediately after treatment with prednisolone and ticlopidine. The brain MRI taken 3 months later showed partial permeability of the sagittal sinus. The patient had several attacks of meningoencephalitis and stomatitis during the following 2 years. The last attack was complicated by iridocyclitis; this required cyclosporin treatment.

Conclusion: Phlebothrombosis is a classic complication of Behçet's disease and can reveal the disease. Sagittal sinus thrombosis has never before been reported as the first manifestation of the disease in children.