Clinical Manifestations of Sarcoidosis

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease characterized by granulomatous inflammation in affected tissues. Any tissue may become affected and so different symptoms can occur. There can also be asymptomatic organ involvement. It may present as a multisystem disease or individual organ involvement and it is also associated with general symptoms like fever, weight loss, night sweats or fatigue. Clinical onset may be acute or subacute and clinical course may be self-remitting or chronic. Most commonly sarcoidosis affects the lungs (manifesting as dyspnea, chest pain or cough) and/or thoracic lymph nodes. Extrapulmonary sarcoidosis includes peripheral lymphadenopathy, abdominal (including renal, hepatic, splenic, gastrointestinal), neurological, musculoskeletal, ocular, cardiac, cutaneous and head and neck sarcoidosis (including nose/paranasal sinuses, salivary glands). Less commonly, sarcoidosis can affect bone marrow. Multiple associations of organ involvement occur to configure clinical phenotypes (based on organ manifestations that frequently occur together) and syndromes like Löfgren’s or Heerfordt-Waldenström’s.