ABSTRACT
Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of
unknown cause that is characterized by enhanced cellular
hypersensitivity at sites of involvement. The lesions of
sarcoidosis may be confined to one organ or disseminated
widely. Autopsy studies show that asymptomatic sarcoidosis
is much more common than is realized clinically (Hager-
strand and Linell 1964). Lymph nodes, the lungs, liver,
spleen, skin and eyes are the organs most commonly affected,
but virtually any part of the body may be involved. The
distribution of the lesions is consistent with the lungs being
the portal of entry of an unknown causative agent, the lymph
nodes being affected by lymphatic spread from the lungs, and
other organs being involved by a combination of lymphatic
and blood spread, a situation entirely analogous with that in
tuberculosis.
