Histiocytic lymphoma following resolution of sarcoidosis

A 32-year-old female who developed respiratory symptoms and hilar and mediastinal lymph node enlargement had a biopsy of a mediastinal lymph node typical of sarcoidosis. The symptoms and lymphadenopathy resolved spontaneously without therapy. Eighteen months later the patient developed recurrent respiratory symptoms and a large anterior mediastinal mass, a biopsy of which showed a diffuse sclerosing histiocytic lymphoma, without evidence of sarcoidosis. The possibility of a common etiologic factor or transformation of sarcoidosis into a histiocytic lymphomas are discussed.