MEMANTIN RESPONSIVE BEHCET’S DISEASE WITH INITIAL ONSET SEVERE COGNITIVE DECLINE

Behcet’s Disease (BD) is chronic, multisystem inflammatory disorder with vasculitis as the underlying process and most commonly affects the brain stem with a patchy involvement of upper parts in the nervous system. Although predominant mental symptoms are the main forms of nervous system involvement, mental changes and psychiatric problems are seen at later stages of BD. We report a case with Behcet’s disease initially presented with depression and dementia. The most prominent findings were depression and cognitive impairement with gait ataxia. This case was treated with steroids, serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors and memantin. The initial presentation of memory problems and depression in neurological involvements of BD have not yet been reported in literature. Therefore, our case who had an onset with psychiatric complaints and memory problems is an interesting one.