Recommendations for the Management of Neuro-Behçet's Disease by the Japanese National Research Committee for Behçet's Disease

OBJECTIVE: Brain parenchymal involvement in Behçet's disease (BD) (neuro-Behçet's disease, NB) can be classified into acute type (ANB) and chronic progressive type (CPNB) based on differences in the clinical course and responses to corticosteroid treatment. The present study developed evidence-based recommendations for the management of NB. METHODS: The task force of the research subcommittee consisted of seven board-certified rheumatologists (one was also a board-certified neurologist) and three board-certified neurologists. First, several clinical questions (CQs) were established. A systematic literature search was performed by The Japan Medical Library Association in order to develop recommendations. The final recommendations for each CQ developed from three blind Delphi rounds, for which the rate of agreement scores [range 1(strongly disagree)-5(strongly agree)] was determined through voting by the task force. RESULTS: A flow chart of the algorithm was established for the management of ANB and CPNB. Thirteen recommendations were developed for NB (general 1, ANB 7, CPNB 5). The strength of each recommendation was established based on the evidence level as well as the rate of agreement. CONCLUSION: The recommendations generated in this study are based on the results of uncontrolled evidence from open trials, retrospective cohort studies and expert opinions, due to the lack of randomized clinical trials. Nevertheless, these recommendations can be used for international studies, although verification by further properly designed controlled clinical trials is required.