[Swelling of the finger as initial manifestation of sarcoidosis]

An extensive differential diagnosis exists for swelling of the fingers. One of the rare causes of such a swelling is a multisystem disorder called sarcoidosis.

We describe a 40-year-old female patient who was first seen at our outpatient clinic with a painless swelling of the middle phalanx of her right middle finger. The diagnosis initially made was enchondroma, which was treated conservatively. Thirteen years later, the patient returned with pain and progressive swelling of this same finger. Physical examination and imaging revealed a giant-cell tumour of the tendon sheath, which was excised. The diagnosis of sarcoidosis was made after histological analysis.

The initial manifestation of sarcoidosis is rarely observed in bone and soft tissue. For this reason, symptoms arising from such tissues will not always lead to the consideration of this diagnosis. The typical radiological abnormalities of bone combined with swelling of soft tissue should, however, give rise to the consideration of this diagnosis.