PANCREATIC SARCOIDOSIS

Sarcoidosis affects every organ in the body; the most frequently invol ved structures are the lung, lymphnodes, liver, spleen, eyes, joints a nd heart. Gastrointestinal system affliction is uncommon. The pancreas is rarely affected by sarcoidosis. A review of the literature reveale d only 13 patients with biopsy proven granulomas in pancreas or peripa ncreatic nodes. In a review of all autopsies performed between 1950 an d 1993 at Los Angeles County + University of Southern California Schoo l of Medicine, Los Angeles, USA, the authors found one patient with pa ncreatic and 5 with peripancreatic lymph node granuloma. The authors a lso describe three previously unreported cases of pancreatic sarcoidos is, From the discussion, a clinically useful and pragmatic profile of pancreatic sarcoidosis emerges. Two thirds of the patients with pancre atic sarcoidosis have abdominal pain, and three quarters of them have bilateral hilar adenopathy. The occurrence of abdominal pain in a woma n with bilateral hilar adenopathy with or without pulmonary infiltrati on should lead one to think of pancreatic sarcoidosis. The diagnosis s hould be established by a tissue biopsy because the laboratory and rad iographic techniques do not differentiate pancreatic sarcoidosis from other inflammatory and malignant disorders of the pancreas. The progno sis of pancreatic sarcoidosis is good.