Clinical presentation of sarcoidosis in a mixed population in the middle east

Abstract

There is a peak of sarcoidosis among Arab males at 30-39 years, Arab females at 40-59 years and SEA males at 40-49 years. Arab patients presented more frequently with either stage II or III compared to SEA who usually present with stage 0 or I.

Clinical characteristics and computed tomography findings in Arab patients diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis

“…In the current cohort, 64.4% patients were women, consistent with previous studies including reports on Arab patients with sarcoidosis, disclosing a higher disease rate in women compared to men 4–68. Pulmonary manifestations are typically predominant, but virtually any organ system can be involved 1.…”

“…For instance, Japanese patients are more likely to present with ocular symptoms, whereas respiratory symptoms and erythema nodosum are the common clinical presentations in Finland 5. In our patients, dyspnea and cough were the most common complaints, in keeping with previous reports on sarcoidosis in Arab populations 68…”

“…In the large “case control etiologic study of sarcoidosis” (ACCESS) study involving several geographic regions of the United States, women patients were generally older than men and one-third of patients were 60 years of age or over 2. In the present analysis, mean patient age at diagnosis was 49.3 years, consistent with earlier reports on Arab patients with sarcoidosis 68…”

“…The rate of extrapulmonary involvement ranged from 1% to 9.6% in our patient population, depending on the organ involved. However, we believe that our data, along with those of earlier studies focusing on Middle Eastern populations,68 do not represent an accurate estimation of extrapulmonary organ involvement, that would permit meaningful comparison with findings reported elsewhere, because our patients were recruited from pulmonary clinics. Consequently, individuals presenting to other specialists would not have come to our attention.…”

“…Furthermore, radiographic findings at the time of diagnosis and the rate of radiographic clearing with treatment were also different among different ethnic groups 5. Limited reports on sarcoidosis in Arab patients have appeared,6–8 and to the best of our knowledge, no specific study has described CT findings among Arab patients diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis. This retrospective study was conducted to explore the clinical, physiological, and radiological characteristics of pulmonary sarcoidosis in a sample of Arab patients.…”