Pneumothorax as a first manifestation of sarcoidosis.
Pneumothorax is a rare manifestation of sarcoidosis, occurring usually late in the course of the disease. We report five cases of pneumothorax as a presenting manifestation of sarcoidosis. In two patients, thoracotomy showed extensive pleural infiltration by noncaseating granulomas. High-resolution CT scans showed cavitated subpleural nodules and subpleural bullae in one case. These findings support that necrosis of subpleural granulomas or rupture of a subpleural bullae, or both, are the mechanisms of pneumothorax in sarcoidosis. Three patients with a lung function impairment were treated with oral corticosteroids. One nontreated patient died due to progression of the disease.
Froudarakis
M E
ME
Department of Thoracic Medicine, Medical School, University of Crete, Greece. frudarak@edu.uch.gr
Bouros
D
D
Voloudaki
A
A
Papiris
S
S
Kottakis
Y
Y
Constantopoulos
S H
SH
Siafakas
N M
NM
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011030:Pneumothorax / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D017565:Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed