Sarcoidosis and associated illnesses. A 32-case retrospective study

Purpose. - A retrospective study was set up to investigate active pathologic processes associated with sarcoidosis diagnosed in 32 patients. Methods. - Eighteen patients had two identified granulomatous localizations (569%) and 14 patients had three localizations or more (27%). Comorbidity was noticed in nine patients (28% of cases). Sarcoidosis was associated with an Infectious disease five times (hepatitis C virus [HCV] infection three times, including one case after recombinant interferon alpha therapy, and HIV and HCV co-infection two times). The association of sarcoidosis with a chronic immunologic inflammatory disease was noticed four times (lupus erythematosus two times, myasthenia and primary biliary cirrhosis). Finally, in two cases sarcoidosis was associated with a neoplasia (non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in a co-infected HIV-HCV patient, ovarian cystadenocarcinoma in another patient). Sarcoidosis preceded or revealed the comorbidity four times. Conclusion. - Prospective studies should allow the finding of significant pathologic processes associated with sarcoidosis and to progress in the identification of its triggering factors; they should also help to define the relevant etiologic research to practice when faced with this granulomatosus. (C) 2001 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.