Sarcoidosis diagnosed in the elderly: a case-control study

Studies on sarcoidosis in elderly patients are scarce and none have specifically evaluated patients aged ≥75 at onset.

We aimed to analyse the characteristics of patients with sarcoidosis diagnosed after 75 and to compare them with those of younger patients.

Multicenter case-control study comparing elderly-onset sarcoidosis (EOS) with young-onset sarcoidosis (YOS) seen at Lyon University Hospitals between 2006 and 2018.

Using our institutional database, we included 34 patients in the EOS group and compared them with 102 controls from the YOS group in a 1:3 ratio. Demographic characteristics, medical history, clinical presentation, laboratory and imaging findings, sites of biopsies, histological analyses, treatments and outcomes were recorded using a comprehensive questionnaire.

There were more Caucasians in the EOS group (94.1% vs. 59.8%; P < 0.001), who had significantly more comorbidities (mean, 3.1 ± 2 vs. 1.1 ± 1.6; P < 0.001). In the EOS group, there was less pulmonary involvement (26.5% vs. 49%; P = 0.022), less lymphadenopathy (2.9% vs. 16.7%; P = 0.041), no erythema nodosum (0% vs. 12.8%; P = 0.029) and no arthralgia (0% vs. 25.5%; P = 0.001). Conversely, uveitis was more common in the EOS group (55.9% vs. 20.6%; P < 0.001). Pathological confirmation was obtained significantly less frequently in the EOS group (67.7% vs. 85.3%; P = 0.023). Corticosteroid-related side effects were significantly more common in the EOS group (100% vs. 75.9%; P = 0.030).

Epidemiology and clinical presentation of EOS differs from YOS, including more comorbidities and more uveitis. Elderly patients are more prone to corticosteroid side effects.