title: Clinical characteristics of 195 Japanese sarcoidosis patients treated with oral corticosteroids.
abstract: Questionnaires were sent to 46 hospitals of all over Japan in order to obtain the clinical data on sarcoidosis patients who were treated with oral corticosteroids. The number of female patients was greater than that of male patients (1.5:1), and the average age was 44.9 +/- 16.5 with peaks at 20 and at 50 to 60. The markers of disease activity were high in serum or bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALF): specifically, the serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (sACE) was 27.9 +/- 31.9 IU/ml (n.v. < 21.4), and the CD4/CD8 lymphocyte ratio was 6.5 +/- 5.7. Eye involvement was the most common reason for systemic steroid therapy, followed in order by lung and heart involvement. The main reasons for steroid therapy were the exacerbation of ocular symptoms, visual disturbance, respiratory symptoms, such as cough or exertional dyspnea, progression of chest radiographic findings, heart failure and severe arrhythmia, such as AV block. The initial corticosteroid dose was usually 30 mg of predinisolone per day, but for some refractory cases, a 40-60 mg per day was used. Immunosuppressive drugs, such as methotrexate, were also used in the small number of patients who responded poorly to the steroid. Overall, a good clinical response to the drug was found in 70-80% of the steroid treated patients, but in those with cardiac disease, the response rate was only 48%.
authors: Division of Pulmonary Disease, Department of Allergy and Immunology, Oita Medical University, Hazama-machi, Japan. sugisaki@oita-med.ac.jp
authors: Katsunori
authors: K
authors: Sugisaki
authors: Tetsuo
authors: T
authors: Yamaguchi
authors: Sonoko
authors: S
authors: Nagai
authors: Mitsuhide
authors: M
authors: Ohmiti
authors: Sinobu
authors: S
authors: Takenaka
authors: Sin'ichiro
authors: S
authors: Morimoto
authors: Mami
authors: M
authors: Ishihara
authors: Teruo
authors: T
authors: Tachibana
authors: Tomiyasu
authors: T
authors: Tsuda
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A