CUTANEOUS SARCOIDOSIS AND FOREIGN-BODIES

A histopathological diagnosis of sarcoidosis is, by convention, one of exclusion and is reached only when other potential causes of granulom atous disease, such as foreign bodies, are eliminated. We report herei n three cases of systemic sarcoidosis with cutaneous manifestations of the disease, in which polarizable foreign particles were associated w ith the granulomata in the skin. We submit (a) that a granulomatous fo reign body reaction and sarcoidosis are not mutually exclusive, (b) th at particulate foreign matter may actually serve as a nidus for granul oma formation in sarcoidosis, and (c) that the occasional presence of extraneous material within the granulomata of sarcoidosis requires gre ater recognition by pathologists.