ABSTRACT
Although chest radiographic abnormalities are present in
8595 percent of patients with sarcoidosis, many are asymptomatic whereas other patients experience progressive re-
spiratory compromise or disabling systemic symptoms. The
Scadding chest radiographic staging system, although provid-
ing broad prognostic distinctions between patient cohorts,
does not reliably distinguish between reversible, stable and
progressive lung disease in individual patients. These un-
certainties cause major management difficulties for clinicians,
especially in distinguishing between strategies of observation
without immediate treatment, therapeutic intervention to
reverse disease and treatment of irreversible disease to
minimize further damage and symptomatic deterioration.
