الفهرس Only 14 pages are availabe for public view
 |  | from | 184 |  |  |
| | | from | 184 | | |
Abstract
BACK GROUND:
Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder of unknown cause(s). It commonly affects young and middle-aged adults and frequently presents with bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy, pulmonary infiltration, and ocular and skin lesions. The liver, spleen, lymph nodes, salivary glands, heart, nervous system, muscles, bones, and other organs may also be involved.
OBJECTIVES:
This study aimed to reveal some epidemiological features of sarcoidosis cases, to reveal some predisposing factors and its relation to the occurrence of sarcoidosis, to study the delay in the diagnosis including the delay of the patients and the delay of the physicians and the knowledge of the patients about the disease as regards etiology, treatment and complications.
METHODS:
This study included two hundred and eight subjects collected from the main university hospital, the health insurance hospital, and ministry of health hospitals.
Those subjects were divided into two groups:
Cases: included one hundred and four patients of sarcoidosis that were definitely diagnosed to have the disease.
Control: included one hundred and four subjects matched the cases by age and sex and free from the disease concerned in the study.
RESULTS:
The range of age for the sarcoid cases was 17-65 years, while the mean age of the occurrence of sarcoidosis in this study was 34.2±12.06 years. The majority of the studied cases were female (59.6%) with female to male ratio of 1.47:1. About 54.8% of the cases were married, where 61.5% of the control subjects were married with no significant difference as p= 0.32. Most of cases with sarcoidosis were educated presenting 85.6%, also 88.5% of the control were educated with no significant difference as p=0.52. As regards the occupation, half of the cases were occupied (50%), while 61.5% of the control were occupied with no significant difference as p=0.09. Considering exposure to certain materials such as aluminum, beryllium and zirconium, 11.5% of the cases were exposed to aluminum opposite 9.6% of the control subjects. 0.96% of the cases were exposed to beryllium opposite 0% of the control group. 5.8% of the cases were exposed to zirconium opposite 3.8% of the control group with no significant difference as p=0.655.As regards smoking, the majority of cases were non smokers (69.2%), and 66.4% of the controls were non smokers with no significant difference as p=0.46. About half of the cases had a crowding index between 7-8 persons counting 51 cases (49%). As regards the control group, 46 subjects presenting 44.2% had a crowding index of 7-8 persons. There was no statistical significant difference between both studied groups as regards crowding index as a risk factor for the occurrence of sarcoidosis as X2 = 1.38 and p = 0.71 About half of the cases had sleep crowding index between 2 to less than 3 persons per bedroom, counting 50 cases (48.1%). As regards the control group, 46 subjects enrolling 44.2% had sleep crowding index of 2 to less than 3. There was no statistical significant difference between both studied groups as X2 = 0.74 and p = 0.94. There were 4.8% of the cases with sarcoidosis showed positive family history for the disease opposite none of the control with significant difference as p=0.023. Tuberculosis was found in a quarter of cases with sarcoidosis opposite 11.5% of the control subjects. This difference was significant as p=0.012.
CONCLUSIONS
From the present study, the following could be concluded:
The mean age of incidence for sarcoidosis is 34.2±12.06 years.
The disease is more predominant in females with female to male ratio of 1.47:1.
The disease is not common among smokers.
The disease may have a genetic predisposition among families, and presence of past medical history for tuberculosis may play a role in the initiation of granuloma formation.
The incidence of the disease increases among subjects with these parameters together: having history of tuberculosis, exposed to aluminum, beryllium and zirconium, having high crowding and sleep crowding indices.