[Characteristics and outcome of pulmonary sarcoidosis]

We report the results of a retrospective analysis of 120 patients with sarcoidosis admitted for the first time to the Clinical Hospital for Pulmonary Diseases "Jordanovac" from 1982 to 1983. Eighty-two women and 38 men (2,2:1) participated in the study. The most common symptoms at the time of hospitalization were cough (35%), erythema nodosum (32.5%), fever (28.3%) and dyspnea (20.9%). The peripheral lymph nodes were enlarged in 10% of the cases, liver in 10.8%, and spleen in 1.7%. Elevated sedimentation rate was found in 40.8% of the patients, hypercalcemia in 3.6%, and hypercalciuria in 23.4%. Peripheral lymphogenia was present in 59.2% of the patients, and hypergammaglobulinemia in 65.5%. Other biochemical parameters were followed, as well. According to the radiological classification, 65 (54.2%) were classified as belonging to Stage I, 51 (42.5%) as belonging to Stage II, and one as belonging to Stage III at the time of diagnosis. 50.8% of the patients presented with an acute onset of the disease, 37.2% had chronic disease, while 12 (10%) patients were detected accidentally. The diagnosis was based on typical clinical and radiologic features along with histological and/or cytological evidence of granuloma usually provided from the tissue biopsy specimens obtained during bronchoscopy (93.3%). Extrathoracic sarcoidosis most usually involved the liver, skin, joints and peripheral lymph nodes. Fifty-eight of the 120 (48.3%) patients were yielded to spontaneous healing. Twenty-seven patients were followed up from 2 to 6 years, and two (7.4%) patients later showed a chronic form of the disease. Corticosteroid therapy was administered to 62 (51.7%) patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)