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| Sarcoidosis and Sarcoiditis |
| This page was written by Shelley Ensz, and has not yet been medically edited. See Disclaimer. |
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| What is Sarcoidosis and Sarcoiditis? |
| What is Sarcoidosis? Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body, but mostly the lungs and lymph glands. In patients with sarcoidosis, abnormal masses or nodules (called granulomas) consisting of inflamed tissues form in certain organs of the body. These granulomas might alter the normal structure and possibly the function of the affected organ(s). Cleveland Clinic. |
| Sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disease that starts in your lungs, but in time it can affect virtually any organ in your body, including your liver, skin, heart, nervous system and eyes. Mayo Clinic. |
| Childhood Sarcoidosis: a rare but fascinating disorder. Childhood sarcoidosis is a rare multisystemic granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology. The long-term course and prognosis is not well established in childhood sarcoidosis, but it appears to be poorer in early-onset disease. A. K Shetty. Pediatric Rheumatology. September 23, 2008. |
| Cicatricial alopecia due to sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of cicatricial and non-cicatricial alopecia along with discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE), lichen planopilaris, and scleroderma. PubMed. Dermatol Online J 2003 Feb;9(1):16. (Also see: Skin Involvement: Alopecia) |
| Causes of Sarcoidosis |
| Sarcoidosis succumbs to antibiotics-implications for autoimmune disease. There have been reports of autoimmune disease succumbing to tetracycline antibiotics, but many have assumed this was due to coincidence, or to some ill-defined 'anti-inflammatory property' of the tetracyclines. Now the inflammation of sarcoidosis has succumbed to antibiotics in two independent studies. PubMed. Autoimmun Rev. 2004 Jun;3(4):295-300. (Also see: Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus and Causes of Scleroderma: Infection) |
| Diagnosis of Sarcoidosis |
| Advancements in the understanding of autoimmune diseases in recent years have helped doctors to diagnose patients more accurately, but even now, for every patient who is diagnosed quickly with a particular disease, there are five patients who don’t receive a definitive diagnosis. Expired Article. Spokane Journal of Business. 03/22/07. (Also see: Difficult Diagnosis) |
| Sarcoidosis and the rheumatologist. More studies looking at the reliability of certain serological and radiological biomarkers are needed. Issues concerning the safety of the use of biological response modifiers in inducing sarcoidosis need further study. K. D. Torralba Current Opinion in Rheumatology. 21(1):62-70, January 2009. |
| Symptoms of Sarcoidosis |
| Sudden Cardiac Death in Infiltrative Cardiomyopathies: Sarcoidosis, Scleroderma, Amyloidosis, Hemachromatosis. Conduction system abnormalities are common, and each of these disorders has been associated with sudden cardiac death. Steven A. Lubitz, Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. Vol 51, Issue 1, Pages 58-73 (July 2008). (Also see: Cardiac Involvement) |
| Pulmonary hypertension associated with sarcoidosis. Pulmonary involvement is common in sarcoidosis, an immune-mediated inflammatory disorder that is characterized by non-caseating granulomas in tissue. Sarcoid patients with advanced pulmonary disease, especially end-stage pulmonary fibrosis, risk developing pulmonary hypertension. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2007, 9(Suppl 2):S8. |
| Possible Signs and Symptoms. Shortness of breath (dyspnea) and a cough that won't go away can be among the first symptoms of sarcoidosis. But sarcoidosis can also show up suddenly with the appearance of skin rashes. MedicinceNet.com |
| Pleural Effusions in a Series of 181 Outpatients With Sarcoidosis. Pleural effusion is considered to be a rare manifestation of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Study found that PEs are rare in outpatients with sarcoidosis. Chest. 2006;129:1599-1604. |
| Treating Sarcoidosis |
| How is Sarcoidosis Treated? The goals of treatment are to improve how the organs affected by sarcoidosis work, relieve symptoms, shrink the granulomas. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. |
| Refractory Vertebral Sarcoidosis Responding to Infliximab. We report a case of sarcoidosis, involving the lung and vertebrae, which was refractory to conventional therapy. Our patient's clinical symptoms and radiologic lesions of vertebral sarcoid dramatically improved after treatment with infliximab. Garg, Sanjay MD. Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. August 2008. (Also see: Infliximab) |
| Personal Stories |
| Debs B: Diffuse Systemic Sclerosis (England) This seems to be a long list of ailments that I have been coping with for years, so the addition of diffuse systemic sclerosis did not really panic me... |
| Missie R: Mixed Connective Tissue Disease I finally asked for an ANA test to check for lupus. My family doctor hesitated because my symptoms were all over the board... |
| Yolima: Diffuse Scleroderma I was misdiagnosed for more than a year with so many diseases and given all types of medication for different problems except for the real disease... |
