Abstract: Sarcoidosis is a common systemic disease with noncaseating granulomatous epithelioid nodule and coexisting granulomatous inflammation. Although sarcoidosis can affect any organ of the body, more than 90% of the patients demonstrate thoracic involvement, which is often confusing with lung cancer and other diseases. Therefore, thoracic surgeons must have a clear understanding of sarcoidosis. Moreover, due to the special role of surgery in obtaining pathological specimens, thoracic surgeon plays an important role in the diagnosis and treatment of sarcoidosis. It is not difficult to make diagnosis for patients with typical clinical features of sarcoidosis. However, the majority of patients do not have specific manifestations of sarcoidosis. The cause of sarcoidosis remains unknown, and there is also no specific treatment strategy for it. But recent research has shown that annexin A11 gene may be involved in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor is effective in the treatwent of sarcoidosis.
ObjectiveTo improve the diagnosis and treatment of multiple systemic sarcoidosis (MSS) and avoid misdiagnosis. MethodsTo analyze the diagnosis and treatment of a MSS patient misdiagnosed as lymphoma. Related literatures were also reviewed. ResultsThe patients' clinical manifestations were not specific including cough and stethocatharsis. Lung and thoracic lymph nodes were most commonly involved in MSS. MSS was characterized by symmetrical lymph nodes enlargement in the bilateral lung hilus and/or mediastinum. The enlarged lymph nodes had a clear boundary and showed homogeneous enhancement. Symmetrical fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the hilar and/or mediastinal node was a typical finding of sarcoidosis on FDG PET/CT. Mucosal inflammation and mucosal nodules could be seen in the bronchoscope. Sarcoidosis was characterized by the presence of noncaseating groanulomas histologically. Hormonal therapy was effective for MSS. ConclusionSarcoidosis is a kind of disease involving multiple systems and organs with unknown etiology. The clinical manifestation of sarcoidosis is nonspecific,so it's likely to be misdiagnosed. Imaging examination and laboratory examination are helpful to the diagnosis of MSS. The definitive diagnosis depends on the pathologic biopsy.
Objective To investigate the expression of Th17 cells in peripheral blood of patients with sarcoidosis at different stage. Methods Flow cytometry was used to detect the Th17 cells in peripheral blood of 38 patients with sarcoidosis, including 18 cases of newly diagnosed active patients with obvious symptoms such as cough, fever, fatigue and weight loss, and 20 stable cases who were followed up regularly.15 cases of healthy volunteers were enrolled as control. Serumangiotensin-converting enzyme ( SACE) of the patients with sarcoidosis was detected by ultraviolet spectrophotometry. The cell classification and CD4 + /CD8 + T in the BALF of the newly diagnosed active patients were calculated. Results The expression of Th17 cells in peripheral blood in the patients with active sarcoidosis were higher than that in the sable patients and the controls [ ( 1. 59 ±0. 44) % vs. ( 0. 56 ±0. 32) % and ( 0. 49 ±0. 23) % , all P lt; 0. 05] . Th17 cells in peripheral blood in the patients with stable sarcoidosis and the controls were not different significantly ( P gt;0. 05) . The levels of SACE in the patients with active sarcoidosis were higher than that in the patients with stable sarcoidosis [ ( 56. 6 ±14. 6) IU/L vs. ( 35. 8 ±18. 3) IU/L, P lt; 0. 05) . There was not significant correlation between the Th17 cells in peripheral blood and SACE in the patients with sarcoidosis ( P gt;0. 05) . In the patients with active sarcoidosis, the Th17 cells in peripheral blood were not significantly correlated with lymphocyte percentages in BALF( P gt; 0. 05) , but significantly correlated with CD4 + /CD8 + in BALF ( r=0. 63, P lt;0. 05) .Conclusion In patients with active sarcoidosis, the increased expression of Th17 cells in peripheral blood may correlate with the activity of sarcoidosis.