Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report
Behçet disease (BD) is characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, skin lesions, and vascular involvement. Giant aortic aneurysm, a life‐threatening complication of BD, often proves refractory to conventional therapies. Here, we present the case of a 71‐year‐old man with a 40‐year history of...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2025-07-01
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| Series: | ACR Open Rheumatology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/acr2.70071 |
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| author | Zi‐Yi Song Xin Zhi Jia‐Yi Geng Xing Sun Tian Liu Zhan‐Guo Li |
| author_facet | Zi‐Yi Song Xin Zhi Jia‐Yi Geng Xing Sun Tian Liu Zhan‐Guo Li |
| author_sort | Zi‐Yi Song |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Behçet disease (BD) is characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, skin lesions, and vascular involvement. Giant aortic aneurysm, a life‐threatening complication of BD, often proves refractory to conventional therapies. Here, we present the case of a 71‐year‐old man with a 40‐year history of BD complicated by a giant aortic aneurysm, which was successfully managed using the interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) receptor antagonist tocilizumab (TCZ). Despite years of tight treatment with high‐dose glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants, there were frequent flares of disease and aortic aneurysm formation. Following the initiation of TCZ therapy, the patient achieved remarkable clinical improvement: the aortic aneurysm diameter decreased significantly from 10.15 × 7.83 cm to 6.22 × 5.12 cm, and disease activity, as measured by the Behçet's Disease Current Activity Form score, dropped from 8 to 1, indicating sustained disease control. This case underscores the potential of IL‐6 inhibition as a transformative therapeutic strategy for refractory BD with severe vascular complications, offering new hope for patients with this challenging condition. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-92d2ddcc566d485980ccd9ca16023d98 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2578-5745 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | ACR Open Rheumatology |
| spelling | doaj-art-92d2ddcc566d485980ccd9ca16023d982025-08-20T03:58:41ZengWileyACR Open Rheumatology2578-57452025-07-0177n/an/a10.1002/acr2.70071Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case ReportZi‐Yi Song0Xin Zhi1Jia‐Yi Geng2Xing Sun3Tian Liu4Zhan‐Guo Li5Department of Rheumatology and Immunology Peking University People's Hospital, and Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135) Beijing ChinaDepartment of Radiology Peking University People's Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, Peking University People's Hospital, and Thoracic Oncology Institute & Research Unit of Intelligence Diagnosis and Treatment in Early Non‐small Cell Lung Cancer Peking University People's Hospital Beijing ChinaDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology Peking University People's Hospital, and Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135) Beijing ChinaDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology Peking University People's Hospital, and Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis (BZ0135) Beijing ChinaDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, Peking University People's Hospital Beijing Key Laboratory for Rheumatism Mechanism and Immune Diagnosis, and Peking‐Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences Beijing ChinaBehçet disease (BD) is characterized by recurrent oral and genital ulcers, skin lesions, and vascular involvement. Giant aortic aneurysm, a life‐threatening complication of BD, often proves refractory to conventional therapies. Here, we present the case of a 71‐year‐old man with a 40‐year history of BD complicated by a giant aortic aneurysm, which was successfully managed using the interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) receptor antagonist tocilizumab (TCZ). Despite years of tight treatment with high‐dose glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants, there were frequent flares of disease and aortic aneurysm formation. Following the initiation of TCZ therapy, the patient achieved remarkable clinical improvement: the aortic aneurysm diameter decreased significantly from 10.15 × 7.83 cm to 6.22 × 5.12 cm, and disease activity, as measured by the Behçet's Disease Current Activity Form score, dropped from 8 to 1, indicating sustained disease control. This case underscores the potential of IL‐6 inhibition as a transformative therapeutic strategy for refractory BD with severe vascular complications, offering new hope for patients with this challenging condition.https://doi.org/10.1002/acr2.70071 |
| spellingShingle | Zi‐Yi Song Xin Zhi Jia‐Yi Geng Xing Sun Tian Liu Zhan‐Guo Li Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report ACR Open Rheumatology |
| title | Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report |
| title_full | Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report |
| title_fullStr | Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report |
| title_full_unstemmed | Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report |
| title_short | Giant Aortic Aneurysm in Refractory Behçet’s Disease Shrank with Tocilizumab Treatment: A Case Report |
| title_sort | giant aortic aneurysm in refractory behcet s disease shrank with tocilizumab treatment a case report |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/acr2.70071 |
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