title: The WASOG Sarcoidosis Organ Assessment Instrument: An update of a previous clinical tool.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A Case Control Etiology of Sarcoidosis Study (ACCESS) sarcoidosis organ assessment instrument has been used for more than a decade to establish uniform standards for the probability of sarcoidosis organ involvement. The ACCESS instrument has become increasingly outdated as new technologies have been developed. Furthermore, the ACCESS instrument failed to address all possible organs involved with sarcoidosis. For these reasons, the World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Diseases (WASOG) developed a new sarcoidosis organ assessment instrument.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical sarcoidosis experts assessed various clinical manifestations for the probability of sarcoidosis organ involvement. Two criteria were required to apply this assessment: 1) histologic evidence of granulomatous inflammation of unknown cause in an organ that was not being assessed; 2) the clinical manifestation being addressed required that alternative causes other than sarcoidosis had been reasonably excluded. Clinical manifestations were assessed as either: a) highly probable: likelihood of sarcoidosis causing this manifestation of at least 90%.; b) probable: likelihood of sarcoidosis causing this manifestation of between 50 and 90%; c) possible: likelihood of sarcoidosis causing this manifestation of less than 50%. The sarcoidosis experts voted on the likelihood of sarcoidosis causing each manifestation using Delphi study methodology where at least 70% agreement of the experts was needed for consensus.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Various clinical manifestations were classified as highly probable, at least probable, possible, or indeterminate when no consensus could be reached.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An instrument was developed by expert opinion that may be useful for the clinician and researcher in establishing criteria for sarcoidosis organ involvement.
authors.affiliation: Chief, Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Department of Medicine, MC-91 Albany Medical College. JudsonM@mail.amc.edu.
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Judson
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Costabel
authors.forename: Marjolein
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Drent
authors.forename: Athol
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maier
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koth
authors.forename: Hidenobu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shigemitsu
authors.forename: Dan A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Culver
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gelfand
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Valeyre
authors.forename: Nadera
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sweiss
authors.forename: Elliott
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crouser
authors.forename: Adam S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Morgenthau
authors.forename: Elyse E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Lower
authors.forename: Arata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Azuma
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: Shin-Ichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morimoto
authors.forename: Tetsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tetsuo Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Noriharu
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Shijubo
authors.forename: Jan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Grutters
authors.forename: Misha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosenbach
authors.forename: Hui-Ping
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rottoli
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Antje
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prasse
authors.forename: Robert P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Baughman
authors.forename: The Wasog Sarcoidosis
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Organ Assessment Instrument Investigators
mesh_terms: D006099:Granuloma; D006801:Humans; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012955:Societies, Medical