Abstract

Introduction: Sarcoidosis, or BBS (Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease), is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown etiology. It is characterized by the formation of non-caseating epithelioid granulomas in the affected organs. A heterogeneous disease, its clinical manifestations are protean, with a predilection for the respiratory system. None of the clinical or paraclinical features of sarcoidosis is specific on its own. The diagnosis relies on a combination of positive findings: clinical manifestations and histopathological lesions after exclusion of other known causes of tuberculoid granuloma.
Objectives: Our main objective was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and biological characteristics of patients with sarcoidosis in an Algerian cohort.
Methods: This is a retrospective, single-center, descriptive study using electronic records of patients hospitalized in the internal medicine department of the central army hospital between January 2017 and December 2023, which included 29 adult patients with sarcoidosis.
Results: The mean age of our patients was 50.6 ± 13.47 years, with a female predominance (male-to-female ratio = 0.38). The majority of our patients (72%) had superficial and/or deep lymphadenopathy; hepatomegaly (31%); dyspnea (31%); and cough (27%). The chronic form was predominant (93%), with the mediastinal-pulmonary form being the most frequent (14%). There were 3 cases of severe localization (2/29 neurological and 1/29 cardiac). An inflammatory syndrome was present in 52% of cases, and biopsy with histopathological examination was performed and contributed to the diagnosis in 83% of cases.
Conclusion: A ubiquitous disease, characterized by geographic and ethnic epidemiological variability (in the absence of local data); of enigmatic etiopathogenesis. Its clinical polymorphism has earned it the name “The Great Mimicker,” with limited biological contribution making the development of diagnostic criteria difficult; diagnosis is based on a suggestive clinical and radiological presentation, with, in most cases the demonstration of an epithelioid granuloma without caseous necrosis.
Key words: Sarcoidosis, granuloma, granulomatosis, epidemiology.

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