Sarcoidosis

The classic chest radiograph, showing bilateral hilar and right paratracheal adenopathy, is found in half of sarcoidosis patients. Pulmonary infiltrates are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Extrapulmonary disease may be found in the skin, eyes, liver and heart, and in the nervous, musculoskeletal and other systems. Despite myriad pathologic and biochemical abnormalities, the typical patient is asymptomatic. Most patients with symptomatic sarcoidosis benefit from steroid therapy; in some, however, the disease progresses inexorably.