In medicine, quality of life is a very important issue. Nowdays, in our circumstances, it is an important part of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The aim of this study was to analyze the role ...of EQ5D questionnaire in patients with sarcoidosis.
EQ5D self-questionnaire was used in patients with sarcoidosis and we analyzed the obtained data.
The analysis included patients with previously proved sarcoidosis--pulnmonary and extrapulmonary (bronchoscopy and other biopsies). All patients were treated at the Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases. We analyzed a group of 84 (19 male and 65 female) patients with average age of 45 years. Most patients had a chronic state of disease and were nonsmokers. In regard to the radiographic stage of pulmonary sarcoidosis, levels of disease activity (acute, chronic and relapse), levels of sACE, levels of sIgE, smokers--non smokers, and in regard to obtained scores, no statistically significant difference was found in examined groups, except in the group of patients with low level sIgE (score 0.276).
EQ5D questionnaire is a good tool for analyzing the health status of patients with sarcoidosis, but still a more specific questionnaire should be designed for this multisystem disease.
Health-related quality of life in interstitial lung diseases, especially in sarcoidosis, has hardly received appropriate attention in clinical studies due to lack of validated methods of measurement. ...Until now, in patients with sarcoidosis and interstitial lung diseases, several generic and respiratory specific quality-of-life instruments were used in order to discover the most valid and reliable quality-of-life instrument. Sarcoidosis is a multi-system disease that affects quality of life in many different ways.
In this study the Sarcoidosis Health Questionnaire was used to evaluate the quality of life in sarcoidosis patients. 89 biopsy positive sarcoidosis patients were analyzed (16 male, 73 female); their mean age 46.15 +/- 11.11 years. 34 (39%) patients presented with acute sarcoidosis, 53 (61%) with chronic sarcoidosis and 46 patients (51.7%) had extrapulmonary disease. In regard to treatment, 51 (57%) patients were treated with corticosteroids 18 (20%) with methotrexate and in 20 (23%) spontaneous remission was reported. All analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science Software: A probability value less than 0.01 considered being statistically significant.
Statistically significant correlation was found between the sarcoidosis health questionnaire scores and chronic sarcoidosis. daily 0.001, emotional 0.014 and total 0.01. In regard to treatment, significant difference between groups was found in the domain of physical (sig 0.006) emotional (sign 0.005) and total (sign 0.001) scores.
The first sarcoidosis specific questionnaire shows perfect correlation with the possible clinical course in patients with sarcoidosis.
In patients with sarcoidosis high levels of Ca2+ in blood serum accompanied by increased 24-hour urinary calcium are of great diagnostic and prognostic value. High levels of these two important ...parameters may point to hyperparathyroidism and/or chronic sarcoidosis. It is necessary to exclude kidney insufficiency by kidney ultrasound.
During the previous four years (1999-2003), urinary Ca was significantly higher than the physiological level in 25 patients, whereas the blood serun Ca was normal. 18 patients received corticosteroid therapy (40 mg for two months, and 35 mg later on). Patients with acute sarcoidosis received prednisone for 11.8 months, while patients with chronic sarcoidosis received it for 13.6 months. One patient with chronic sarcoidosis received methotrexate, as alternative therapy.
4 months later, after normalization of urinary Ca excretion, the follow-up of patients revealed only one patient with increased urinary Ca excretion associated with increased ACE and radiographic progression of the disease.
According to available literature data, chronic pulmonary and extrapulmonary sarcoidosis occurs in 10-30% of all sarcoidosis patients. Unpredictable course of the disease is a great challenge for ...scientists and researchers. Clinical and biological parameters for evaluation and prediction of the course of the disease are still the topic of different scientific investigations all over the world. According to an American case control study on sarcoidosis, unique diagnostic criteria have been established in order to simplify the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The aim of this study was to present the morbidity and the clinical course of sarcoidosis in our patients.
We analyzed 370 sarcoidosis patients and confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis by biopsy of the suspected granuloma, and by excluding any other possible cause of granulomatous inflammation. In our analyzed patients with sarcoidosis, chronic form was diagnosed in about 30%. An extremly unpredictable, chronic form of the disease was established in patients with extrapulmonary localisations (heart, CNS, liver and bones).
Follow-up criteria and control examinations of sarcoidosis patients are suggested as well.
Clinical studies indicate involvement of the liver and spleen in approximately 20-30% of patients affected with sarcoidosis and their detection should be based on a standardized diagnostic procedure.
...Ultrasonography is a reliable and safe method to assess changes related to size and structure of the affected organs that are pathognomonic for sarcoidosis. Further evaluation may include computerized tomography or magnetic resonance, while percutaneous needle aspiration biopsy or laparoscopy may also be applied when indicated. The most important criterion used for final diagnosis is pathohistological evidence of epithelioid noncaseating granuloma in bioptic material along with already established sarcoidosis of the lungs or some other organ.
The study on the incidence of liver and spleen sarcoidosis included a group of 130 patients affected with sarcoidosis hospitalized at the Institute of Pulmonary Diseases and Tuberculosis, Clinical Center of Serbia, over the period 2002-2003.
The analysis evidenced that 31.5% of sarcoidosis patients had pathognomonic echographic findings of abdominal organs: splenomegaly (13%), hepatomegaly (10.8%) and hepatosplenomegaly (7.7%). Three patients underwent surgical treatment of liver and spleen sarcoidosis.
Pathognomonic findings of liver and spleen sarcoidosis were evidenced in approximately one third of sarcoidosis cases and they represented a significant parameter for further therapy, particularly in chronic patients.
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