[Acute hypercalcemia syndrome in sarcoidosis]

In a 26-year-old patient admitted to the emergency ward with acute abdomen, all the symptoms--nausea, vomiting, indeterminate abdominal pain, constipation, renal failure, polyuria and polydipsia--could be explained by calcium intoxication syndrome. Investigation revealed generalized sarcoidosis. Under medical treatment with prednisone all the pathologic findings rapidly regressed. The pathogenesis of hypercalcemia in sarcoidosis, and particularly the disorder of vitamin D metabolism with raised levels of 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol, are discussed.