POSITIVE TUBERCULIN TEST IN SARCOIDOSIS

Scar sarcoidosis is one of the rare cutaneous manifestations of sarcoi dosis. Apart from the clinical picture, suppression of the cell-mediat ed immunity can often be determined when tuberculin tests and testing for recall antigens are carried out. In the present case of a 68-year- old woman patient scar sarcoidosis and pulmonary sarcoidosis were dete cted. Remarkably, a strongly positive tuberculin reaction was found, w hile acute tuberculosis and former BCG vaccination were excluded. Both references in the literature and the case presented demonstrate that a positive tuberculin test, while very unusual in sarcoidosis, does no t however, preclude the diagnosis. On the basis of some case reports i n the literature, our patient was treated with allopurinol; impressive improvement of both the skin and the pulmonary manifestations was not ed. Despite the well-known phenomenon of spontaneous regression in sar coidosis, we recommend a clinical trial with allopurinol as this subst ance is well tolerated.