Preschool sarcoidosis

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic granulomatous disorder of unknown etiology, most commonly affecting young adults and presenting most frequently with bilateral hilar lymphadeno-pathy, pulmonary infiltration, and skin or eye lesions. Sarcoidosis in children under the age of 4, preschool sarcoidosis, is rare and has very different clinical mainfestations characterized by the typical triad of skin, eye and joint involvement without lung disease. Diagnosis is established when compatible clinical findings are supported by histological evidence of widespread noncaseating epithelioid-cell granulomas in more than one organ or a positive Kveim-Siltzbach skin test. This report describes a 2-year-old Thai girl with typical clinical manifestations of preschool sarcoidosis. The histopathological studies of tissue specimens and the laboratory investigations support the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The patient responded to systemic corticosteroid therapy.