Sarcoidosis

Basics

Description

  • Chronic, multisystem disorder characterized by local accumulation of T lymphocytes and mononuclear phagocytes forming noncaseating epithelioid granulomas
  • Symptoms mainly due to organ dysfunction due to disruption of local tissue architecture:
    • Predominance of lung symptoms
  • ACE and vitamin D levels (and thus calcium levels) may be increased due to secretion from granulomatous tissue
  • Prevalence 10–20/100,000 in the U.S. and Europe
  • Affects almost all races and geographic locations
    • People of African descent higher predominance
    • 2.4% lifetime risk to blacks in the U.S., whites 0.85%
  • Symptoms typically begin in patients 10–40 yr of age

Etiology

Unclear, but appears to be an overly robust cell-mediated immune response to unidentified self- or nonself antigen(s). Familial clustering suggests genetic component

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