Upper respiratory tract involvement in sarcoidosis and its management

Abstract

Of some 750 sarcoidosis patients, 27 were found to have involvement of their nasal mucosa. Most had multisystem disease, which was usually chronic. Nasal stuffiness or blockage and crusting were the major symptoms, and were usually present at the first presentation with sarcoidosis. The larynx was involved in five cases. The Kveim test was positive in twelve of the fourteen patients in whom it was performed, serum angiotensin converting enzyme was frequently elevated and sinus radiographs were often abnormal. Topical medication improved symptoms in some patients, but the majority required systemic corticosteroids. It was possible to withdraw medication completely after seven years in only one patient. Relapse was encountered during reduction of dosage in other patients. Random biopsy of macroscopically normal nasal mucosa did not yield histological support for a diagnosis of sarcoidosis in twelve out of thirteen patients, but upper respiratory tract lymphoid tissue may contain granulomas in patients with sarcoidosis.