Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2020 Oct;41(5):689-699.
doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1713130. Epub 2020 Jun 27.

Cutaneous Sarcoidosis

Avrom Caplan  1 , Misha Rosenbach  2 , Sotonye Imadojemu  3
Affiliations
Review

Cutaneous Sarcoidosis

Avrom Caplan et al. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a chronic, multisystem, inflammatory disorder of unknown etiology that is characterized by noncaseating granulomas that impair normal organ functioning. Sarcoidosis predominantly affects the lungs, but the skin is often cited as the second most frequently involved organ. Cutaneous manifestations of sarcoidosis are highly variable and ongoing research seeks to better understand the relationship between clinical morphology and disease prognosis. Skin findings in patients with sarcoidosis can be "specific," in which sarcoidal granulomas infiltrate the skin, or they can represent a "nonspecific" reactive inflammatory process, as is seen in calcinosis cutis and erythema nodosum. Cutaneous sarcoidosis can be the initial presenting sign or develop later in the course of the disease. In some patients, the skin will be the most involved and impactful organ system and will drive therapy. In other cases, the skin will be an incidental or minor finding, but may be easily accessible for biopsy to confirm the diagnosis. There are many potential therapies for sarcoidosis, though no one therapy is universally effective.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

M.R. serves as a consultant at aTyr Pharma, Processa Pharmaceuticals, Merck, and Janssen and receives research support from Processa Pharmaceuticals. The other authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types