Sarcoidosis

Abstract
In this article, Dr DeRemee sheds light on a disease that many clinicians consider particularly perplexing from the standpoint of both diagnosis and treatment. Sarcoidosis, classified by default as a chest disease of unknown origin, can affect organs throughout the body, has no specific laboratory test, and often remains asymptomatic for a long time, only to be discovered on a routine chest roentgenogram. It can disappear as mysteriously as it came but sometimes progresses to fibrosis. Dr DeRemee reviews the evidence on which the diagnosis is based and then analyzes the continuing controversy over glucocorticoid therapy.