Five cases of sarcoidosis were identified among twenty cases of erythema nodosum, admitted to the Department of Medicine, during a two-year period. The clinical picture was dominated by hilar adenopathy and erythema nodosum in all cases. All five patients had gastrocnemius muscle biopsy performed, which revealed noncaseating epithelioid granuloma in four. Diagnosis in the fifth patient was made by transbronchial lung biopsy. The present study suggests, that gastrocnemius muscle biopsy might be considered as the initial diagnostic procedure of choice in this, more commonly seen in Caucasians, syndrome of sarcoidosis, presenting with hilar adenopathy and erythema nodosum, based on its safety, ease of performance and relatively high sensitivity and specificity.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.