[The diagnosis of sarcoidosis based on ocular manifestations]

A total of 131 patients with typical ocular manifestations of sarcoidosis were studied. From systemic examinations, 56 cases were confirmed histologically as sarcoidosis, 59 cases were clinically diagnosed as sarcoidosis and 16 cases were not diagnosed as sarcoidosis. There were no differences among the three groups in terms of laterality of eye involvement, sex distribution, ocular findings and prognosis. The only difference was that the age of patients not diagnosed as sarcoidosis was lower than the other two groups. In systemic examinations, patients diagnosed as sarcoidosis histologically or clinically had higher ratios of positive findings of bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy, 67Ga scanning, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and serum angiotensin converting enzyme than patients who were not diagnosed as sarcoidosis. Some cases of the third group may be diagnosed as sarcoidosis in the future by repeated systemic examinations. The difficulty of diagnosis of sarcoidosis from ocular findings alone was discussed.