ABSTRACT
The 1999 consensus statement by the American Thoracic Society (ATS), the European Respiratory Society (ERS), and the World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders (WASOG) defined sarcoidosis as a systemic disorder of unknown cause characterized by the presence of noncaseating epithelioid granulomas and the accumulation of T-lymphocytes and macrophages in multiple organs.1 These granulomas can occur in any organ system but are more common in the lung and the lymph nodes. The characteristic granuloma found in sarcoidosis is made up of multinucleated giant cells, mononuclear phagocytes, and lymphocytes surrounded by tightly organized fibroblasts, mast cells, and an extracellular matrix.
