In our study, we retrospectively evaluated the clinical features of patients diagnosed as sarcoidosis at our center within the last 36 years and who had skin involvement. Cutaneous involvement was observed in 170 patients (32.9%, 136 females, 34 males). The most frequent skin lesion was erythema nodosum (EN) (106 subjects, 20.5%). In addition, skin plaques and subcutaneous nodules were observed in 22 cases (4.3%), maculopapular eruptions in 19 cases (3.7%), scar lesions in 15 cases (2.9%), lupus pernio (LP) in 14 cases (2.7%) and psoriasiform plaques in five cases (0.9%). Among patients with LP (64.3%) and scar lesions (40%), pulmonary parenchymal involvement was more frequent than patients with other skin lesions. Parenchymal involvement present in 10.4% of patients with EN was significantly less than in patients with LP and scar lesions (P values, respectively, <0.001, 0.002). When patients with skin involvement were compared to other sarcoidosis patients, it was seen that the frequency of females among those with skin involvement was significantly higher than the frequency among other sarcoidosis patients (P<0.001). Parenchymal involvement in sarcoidosis patients without skin involvement was less frequent than in patients with LP; however, more frequent than in patients with EN (both P values=0.002). As a conclusion, skin involvement was diagnosed in approximately one-third of our sarcoidosis patients with a generally female predominance. EN was the most frequent skin lesion encountered. Parenchymal involvement was more frequent in patients with LP and scar lesions and less frequent in patients with EN.

Miliary infiltrates on chest X-ray or FUO should raise the possibility of miliary TB. Therapy should be administered urgently to prevent an otherwise fatal outcome.

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The results suggest that follow-up computed tomography is useful for the evaluation of therapeutic response and complications associated with endobronchial tuberculosis, and may replace bronchoscopy.

A peripheral lymph node (PLN) 1 cm or greater was found in 79 of 546 sarcoidosis patients (14.5%) between 1972 and 2005. Seventy-two of the 79 sarcoidosis patients had a lymph node biopsy performed. Sixty-seven of these biopsy specimens were histologically diagnosed as sarcoidosis, whereas five patients had a reactive adenopathy. For patients with histological diagnosis of sarcoidosis, localizations of the biopsies were as follows: cervical (n=21), supraclavicular (n=20), inguinal (n=11), axillary (n=8), epitrochlear (n=5) and submandibular (n=2). At the time of biopsy, 12 patients had stage 0 disease, 37 patients had stage I disease, 14 patients had stage II disease and four patients had stage III disease. Skin involvement (16.4%) was the most frequently observed type of organ involvement in patients who had enlarged PLNs due to sarcoidosis. In the presence of an enlarged PLN in sarcoidosis, biopsy had a greater diagnostic value compared with other methods, as well as having a relatively low cost (approximately US$120) in Turkey. No procedure-related complications were observed. In conclusion, it is recommended that PLNs be thoroughly examined when sarcoidosis is suspected. If an enlarged PLN is found, biopsy should be routinely performed because it is an easy, convenient and practical method, with a low complication risk and a high sensitivity.