Endoscopic and histologic evaluation of the gastrointestinal tract in patients with sarcoidosis

The involvement of gastrointestinal tract is rare in sarcoidosis. Endoscopic and histologic evaluation likely provides diagnostic clue in sarcoidosis patients. The aims were to assess the frequency of abnormal endoscopy and histology in patients with sarcoidosis undergoing endoscopic evaluation and to characterize the endoscopic and histologic features in sarcoidosis of the gastrointestinal tract.

This was a retrospective study that included 230 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of sarcoidosis in a tertiary care center. The endoscopic and pathology reports were assessed, and serum angiotensin converting enzyme analysis was performed.

Of 230 patients, 63 upper endoscopies and 142 colonoscopies were performed. The most common indication for upper endoscopy was abdominal pain (36.8%) while colonoscopy was most frequently performed for colorectal cancer screening (58.2%). There were 25 upper gastrointestinal biopsies performed (biopsy rate 39.7%) with a diagnostic yield of 92.0% abnormal biopsies, of which the main findings were esophageal tissue eosinophilia, gastritis and duodenal villous blunting. There were 99 lower gastrointestinal biopsies (biopsy rate 64.1%) with a diagnostic yield of 68.7% abnormal biopsies for adenocarcinoma, adenoma, inflammation, low-grade dysplasia, or polyp. Only one gastric biopsy revealed evidence of non-necrotizing granulomas. Of note, patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopy or colonoscopy were more likely to have underlying gastrointestinal comorbidities (62.5%, P < 0.001).

Patients with sarcoidosis undergoing endoscopic evaluation have high histologic abnormalities with a low probability of characteristic histologic (i.e. granulomas, Schaumann and asteroid bodies) findings.