Ohio State University researchers have launched a clinical trial to investigate whether nicotine patches can help treat patients with sarcoidosis. The study (NCT02265874), a collaboration between the university and the Cleveland Clinic, currently is recruiting participants. Smokers who want to quit often use nicotine patches, which slowly release nicotine…

Exposure to moderate to high levels of silica increases the risk of sarcoidosis and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a new study of Swedish iron foundry workers shows. The study titled, “Risk of sarcoidosis and seropositive rheumatoid arthritis from occupational silica exposure in Swedish iron foundries: a retrospective cohort study,”…

Patients with suspected cardiac sarcoidosis should be monitored for potential sarcoidosis lesions in other organs besides the heart, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), who found that 40% of examined patients had sarcoidosis in other areas of the body. The study, “FDG PET-CT…

Sarcoidosis patients have three times the risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) than individuals without the disease, a new report finds. The report, “Association of Sarcoidosis With Increased Risk of VTE: A Population-Based Study, 1976 to 2013,” appeared in the journal Chest. VTE includes two conditions:…

Japan’s aging population may explain why researchers there are finding lower rates of spontaneous resolution of pulmonary sarcoidosis, according to a study published in the journal Respirology. The study is titled, “Resolution rate of pulmonary sarcoidosis and its related…

A study assessing the healthcare resources and cost of sarcoidosis care to commercial insurance payers in the U.S. found that patients selected from a privately-insured administrative claims database had higher total healthcare costs and more lost work days on average in one year compared to control subjects without the disease.

Researchers found bacteria of the type Propionibacterium acnes in a large proportion of tissue samples from patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, suggesting that the bacteria may cause the formation of granulomas (abnormal collections of inflammatory cells), a typical feature of sarcoidosis. The work, published in the journal PLOS ONE, indicated that…

A woman in Turkey with a 10-year history of sarcoidosis was given the additional diagnosis of familial Mediterranean fever (FMF), a heritable disease that rarely occurs simultaneously with sarcoidosis. The case report, “Coexistence of sarcoidosis and Familial Mediterranean Fever,” was published in the journal Reumatología…

Sarcoidosis may cause anomalies in the esophagus and subsequently lead to  difficulties in swallowing, according to a new case report. The physicians who conducted the study say involvement of the esophagus in sarcoidosis is “extremely rare” — with only 24 such cases documented to date — but that patients must…

A recent epidemiological study showed a high incidence of sarcoidosis among firefighters and emergency medical service (EMS) workers who took part in recovery and rescue efforts following the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York that claimed the lives of almost 3,000 people. The study…