[Two siblings with sarcoidosis diagnosed by younger sister's central nervous symptoms]

We report two siblings with sarcoidosis; the younger sister had symptoms of central nervous system, and both sisters had subcutaneous mass lesions in the gluteal region. Case 1. A 30-year-old woman presented with two episodes of right leg paresis. On admission, neurological examination revealed right leg weakness, spasticity of both legs, increased deep tendon reflexes in all extremities, urinary disturbance and hearing loss of the right ear, but she had no meningeal signs. Serological studies were normal including angiotensin converting enzyme. Cerebrospinal fluid revealed elevated protein to 340 mg/dl, mild pleocytosis, decreased glucose. CSF culture was negative, and cytology showed no malignant cells. Enhanced MR imaging showed diffuse leptomeningeal enhancement in both the brain around basal meninges and the whole spinal cord. Case 2. A 34-year-old woman (the elder sister of Case 1) presented with visual disturbance. She had been diagnosed to have bilateral iritis at Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital before visiting our hospital. Neurological examination and serological studies were normal. In both cases, left gluteal subcutaneous mass was detected and its biopsy revealed characteristic sarcoid nodules and confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. A tendency of familial occurrence and positive associations of the specific HLA antigens in sarcoidosis have been reported. Though the diagnosis of neurosarcoidosis has been difficult without extraneurological signs, sarcoidosis should be considered as a differential diagnosis in all the patients with myelopathy, and enhanced MRI and measure of CSF angiotensin converting enzyme seem to be useful for diagnosis and evaluation of drug effect during the course of steroid therapy.