Background: The diagnosis of sarcoidosis is not standardized but is based on three major criteria: a compatible clinical presentation, finding nonnecrotizing granulomatous inflammation in one or more tissue samples, and the exclusion of alternative causes of granulomatous disease. There are no universally accepted measures to determine if each diagnostic criterion has been satisfied; therefore, the diagnosis of sarcoidosis is never fully secure. Methods: Systematic reviews and, when appropriate, meta-analyses were performed to summarize the best available evidence. The evidence was appraised using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation approach and then discussed by a multidisciplinary panel. Recommendations for or against various diagnostic tests were formulated and graded after the expert panel weighed desirable and undesirable consequences, certainty of estimates, feasibility, and acceptability. Results: The clinical presentation, histopathology, and exclusion of alternative diagnoses were summarized. On the basis of the available evidence, the expert committee made 1 strong recommendation for baseline serum calcium testing, 13 conditional recommendations, and 1 best practice statement. All evidence was very low quality. Conclusions: The panel used systematic reviews of the evidence to inform clinical recommendations in favor of or against various diagnostic tests in patients with suspected or known sarcoidosis. The evidence and recommendations should be revisited as new evidence becomes available.

Objectives The aim of this report is to describe the lung biopsy findings in vaping-associated pulmonary illness. Methods Lung biopsies from eight patients with vaping-associated pulmonary illness were reviewed. Results The biopsies were from eight men (aged 19-61 years) with respiratory symptoms following e-cigarette use (vaping). Workup for infection was negative in all cases, and there was no evidence for other etiologies. Imaging showed diffuse bilateral ground-glass opacities in all patients. Most recovered with corticosteroid therapy, while one died. Lung biopsies (seven transbronchial, one surgical) showed acute lung injury, including organizing pneumonia and/or diffuse alveolar damage. Common features were fibroblast plugs, hyaline membranes, fibrinous exudates, type 2 pneumocyte hyperplasia, and interstitial organization. Some cases featured a sparse interstitial chronic inflammatory infiltrate. Although macrophages were present within the airspaces in all cases, this feature was not prominent, and findings typical of exogenous lipoid pneumonia were absent. Conclusions The histopathology of acute pulmonary illness related to e-cigarette use (vaping) is characterized by acute lung injury patterns, supporting the contention that vaping can cause severe lung damage.

Background: The authors tested the primary hypothesis that perioperative IV lidocaine administration during spine surgery (and in the postanesthesia care unit for no more than 8 h) decreases pain and/or opioid requirements in the initial 48 postoperative hours. Secondary outcomes included major complications, postoperative nausea and vomiting, duration of hospitalization, and quality of life. Methods: One hundred sixteen adults having complex spine surgery were randomly assigned to perioperative IV lidocaine (2 mg·kg −1 ·h −1 ) or placebo during surgery and in the post anesthesia care unit. Pain was evaluated with a verbal response scale. Quality of life at 1 and 3 months was assessed using the Acute Short-form (SF) 12 health survey. The authors initially evaluated multivariable bidirectional noninferiority on both outcomes; superiority on either outcome was then evaluated only if noninferiority was established. MORE than half-million spine surgeries are performed each year in the United States. Extensive spine surgery is painful, and postoperative pain is often difficult to control. Opioids-the most common analgesic approachin turn, often provoke postoperative nausea and vomiting. Patients with extensive lumbar spine surgery are prone to life-threatening complications, with incidences varying from 2.3% among patients having decompression alone to 5.6% among those having complex fusions.1 However, the overall complication incidence, including minor and major complications, is up to 16.4% (17.8% in thoracolumbar vs. 8.9% in cervical procedures).2 Therefore, functional recovery is often prolonged.2 A likely common mechanism for many adverse outcomes is the systemic inflammatory response to surgical tissue injury.Systemic lidocaine is antiinflammatory, 3 analgesic,

Objectives-In many cases the clinical diVerentiation of patients with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) from those with Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been diYcult. Because many neuropsychological studies have reported greater visuospatial/ constructional impairment in DLB than in AD, it was determined whether accuracy in copying the interlocking pentagons item on the mini mental state examination (MMSE) may be helpful in distinguishing patients with DLB from those with AD relatively early in the course of the dementia. Methods-All cases of neuropathologically proved DLB and AD in the Center for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders brain bank were retrospectively reviewed, and the first available MMSE for each was retrieved. Only patients with MMSE scores>13 were included, indicating mild to moderate dementia. The patients' copies of the interlocking pentagons were analyzed and graded as acceptable or unacceptable according to the original instructions for grading the MMSE. Results-Seventeen patients with DLB and 27 patients with AD were identified for whom MMSE with copies of the interlocking pentagons were available. Two patients with DLB (MMSEs 22 and 27) drew the pentagons acceptably, by contrast with 16 of the patients with AD (MMSEs 13-28). An unacceptable copy was associated with DLB with a sensitivity of 88% and a specificity of 59% (p=0.002). Conclusions-For patients with MMSE scores>13, an inability to accurately copy the pentagons suggests that the diagnosis is more likely DLB than AD. The results confirm the work of others on visuospatial/constructional impairment in DLB and indicate that this feature may be helpful in its diagnosis. (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2001;70:483-488)