Analysis of Age Distribution and Disease Presentation of 1269 Patients with Sarcoidosis

Abstract

Objective: While the incidence of sarcoidosis peaks between 20 and 39 years, it is comparatively low in elderly subjects. We sought to determine whether there are age-dependent differences in the demographic and laboratory characteristics of patients with sarcoidosis. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected information from our database using the International Classification of Disease (ICD) diagnostic code D86 between 2008 and 2014. Patients were divided into three groups: 20-39 years old (Group 1), 40-59 years old (Group 2), and 60-80 years old (Group 3). Results: A total of 3988 patients with code of D86 were included in the study. After the exclusion of noneligible patients, the number of cases in Groups 1, 2, and 3 were 276, 641, and 352, respectively. The groups were compared according to demographic characteristics, ICD diagnostic codes, and laboratory parameters. The ratio of female patients was significantly higher in Group 3 than in Groups 1 and 2 (p=0.000). There was no difference in diagnostic codes of the ICD subgroups between groups (p=0.19). While the level of bloodurea nitrogen was significantly higher in Group 3 patients than in other groups (p=0.000), serum angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) values were found to be significantly low in Group 3 (p=0.010). The mean ACE values did not differ between females and males (50.8±39.3 and 59.1±45.5 mg/dL, respectively) (p=0.18). Conclusion:The majority of patients with sarcoidosis were female in all age groups and pulmonary sarcoidosis was the most common presentation of the disease. Elderly patients (≥60 years) with sarcoidosis had lower serum ACE levels than younger patients.

The Use of Chitotriosidase as a Marker of Active Sarcoidosis and in the Diagnosis of Fever of Unknown Origin (FUO)

“…In the FUO group, we had 46.4% females and 53.6% males. Therefore, we observed a significant sex distribution in the two groups, with a prevalence of sarcoidosis diagnosis in females compared to males (p < 0.01) as already reported in the literature [18]. Between the two study groups, the mean age of sarcoidosis and FUO patients was 62.9 ± 11.9 and 46.8 ± 18.8 years, respectively, showing a significant age increase (p < 0.01) in the first group compared to FUO patients.…”

Sarcoidosis in Iceland: a nationwide study of epidemiology, clinical picture and environmental exposure

“…To the best of our knowledge, very few studies are based solely on tissue-verified cases of sarcoidosis [ 9 , 14 – 16 ]. Age at diagnosis has been widely studied and has often been described as biphasic, with a peak at young adult age (25–34 years) and a second peak later in life (50–65 years) [ 7 , 13 , 15 , 17 – 19 ]. Clinical symptoms vary widely among different populations, ethnic groups, individuals and sexes [ 20 ].…”