Behçet's disease (BD) is a chronic relapsing systemic autoimmune disease with a genetic background and inflammatory features. Risk of cardiovascular mortality is increased in this pathology compared to normal individuals. Ventricular arrhythmias are thought to be the essential cause. We hypothesized that cardiac involvement for BD patients may be inaugurated by myocardial repolarization abnormalities. The QT dispersion (QTd) measured on a surface electrocardiogram (ECG) is a simple, and non-invasive technique, reflecting the heterogeneity of ventricular repolarisation. An increased QTd has been reported as an arrhythmogenic risk factor in various clinical groups. As a result, detection of repolarization changes could be useful for early cardiac involvement in BD patients.

In this study, we evaluated the QT and the Tp-Te interval dispersion changes in the patients with BD as well as their correlation with the activity of the disease.

We conducted a prospective cross-sectional comparative pilot study. Patients with Behçet's disease were consecutively recruited from the Internal Medicine Department of Habib Thameur Hospital between January 2020 and December 2020. Healthy volunteer subjects were recruited from the staff hospital and matched 1:1 for sex and age to BD patients. All patients had no cardiac symptoms at the time of the study.

During the study period, 36 Behcet's disease patients (28 men and 8 women) with a median age of 42 (32–50) years old and 36 healthy volunteer subjects were enrolled. The study included 36 Behçet's patients (29 men, median age: 42 (32–50) years) and 36 sex and age-matched healthy controls (median age: 43 (32–50) years). The results of the current study showed that the dispersions of the repolarization time, including QTc dispersion, Tp-e/QT, and Tp-e/QTc, were increased in patients with BD by comparison with healthy controls. So, patients with BD, despite no cardiac involvement, may be more susceptible to ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death due to prolonged transmural dispersions of ventricular repolarization. Therefore, patients with BD should be carefully examined for predisposing life-threatening arrhythmias.

Even in the presence of a normal QT interval, it is thought that ECG can be used effectively in determining risk and regulating the frequency of follow-up for Behçet's patients.