Case report: Behçet’s disease initially mistaken for appendicitis in a 12-year-old girl

A case report in BMC Pediatrics describes a 12-year-old girl who was initially diagnosed with acute suppurative appendicitis and underwent an appendectomy, but continued to experience recurrent fever and abdominal pain after surgery. According to the report’s abstract, her recurrent oral ulcers, genital ulcers, skin rashes and a positive pathergy test led clinicians to diagnose Behçet’s disease.

The authors reviewed the individual case and relevant literature to summarize and analyze the diagnostic presentation. Behçet’s disease is described in the abstract as a chronic multisystem vasculitis characterized by relapsing autoinflammatory episodes that can affect multiple organs and body systems. Its clinical manifestations and laboratory findings are often nonspecific. When the gastrointestinal tract is involved, abdominal pain, diarrhea and bloody stool can make it difficult to distinguish Behçet’s disease from conditions such as appendicitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

In this patient, the initial appendicitis diagnosis preceded the recognition of Behçet’s disease. The report therefore illustrates how gastrointestinal symptoms can obscure other manifestations of the condition in a child. The abstract states that early manifestations in children are often subtle and incomplete, which can delay recognition, although it does not report how long the child’s symptoms persisted before the final diagnosis.

This publication is a single-patient case report supplemented by a literature review, not a controlled study or an assessment of treatment effectiveness. The supplied evidence does not describe the child’s treatment, subsequent outcomes, or the size and findings of the reviewed literature. The report’s conclusion is that physicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for Behçet’s disease in children with suggestive clinical features. The article was published online on 10 September 2026 and identifies itself as an open-access case report sharing an accepted version that remains subject to further edits.

Subject of Research: A pediatric case report of Behçet’s disease initially presenting as acute suppurative appendicitis.

Article Title: Behçet’s disease masked by appendicitis: a case report of a 12-year-old child

Article References: Shi, Y., Ren, Y.-F., & Li, Y.-D. (2026). Behçet’s disease masked by appendicitis: a case report of a 12-year-old child. BMC Pediatrics. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12887-026-07685-7

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12887-026-07685-7

Keywords: Behçet’s disease, pediatric vasculitis, case report, appendicitis, gastrointestinal symptoms, pathergy test, oral ulcers, genital ulcers, diagnostic delay, disease, masked, case