Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0010200 (cough)
 23,843 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease of unknown etiology with variable presentation, prognosis, and progression. At diagnosis, about 50% of patients are asymptomatic, 25% complain of cough or dyspnea, and 25% have skin lesions (erythema nodosum, lupus pernio, or plaques or scars) or eye symptoms (or develop them during the course of the disease). Bilateral hilar adenopathy is the most common radiographic finding. Other characteristic findings include interstitial lung disease, occasional calcification of affected lymph nodes, and pleural effusions and thickening. Computed tomography is more sensitive than radiography in the detection of adenopathy and subtle parenchymal disease; gallium-67 scintigraphy is useful in identifying extrathoracic sites of involvement, detecting active disease, and assessing response to treatment. The diagnosis is established most securely when clinicoradiologic findings are supported by histologic evidence of widespread noncaseating granulomas. The disease ranges from a self-limited subclinical process to chronic debilitation and death, with the major complications being fibrosis, mycetoma formation, and cor pulmonale. Because the disease so often involves thoracic structures, chest radiography plays a crucial role in the diagnosis, staging, and follow-up of sarcoidosis.
 ...
PMID:Thoracic sarcoidosis: radiologic-pathologic correlation. 776 46

Sarcoidosis is a multiorgan system disease that often presents insidiously. The diagnosis is often made fortuitously upon routine chest radiography or that done for other reasons. Blacks are more commonly affected than whites and age of onset is typically adolescents to young adults. Lung involvement is common and symptoms may include cough, dyspnea and chest pain. Extrapulmonary symptoms may include the skin, joint and eye findings. Bilateral hilar adenopathy is the classic finding on chest radiograph. Anemia or other cell line deficiencies, elevated liver enzymes, hypercalciuria, and EKG abnormalities may also be present. Angiotensin converting enzyme levels may be elevated but are not diagnostic. Histopathological confirmation of noncaseating granulomas is essential for diagnosis. It is generally performed through a biopsy of the most peripheral site possible, although transbronchial biopsy is commonly required. Finally, other possible etiologies must be evaluated and differentiated with a particular emphasis on tuberculosis due to the multiple overlapping symptoms and findings. Newer techniques such as proteomics and transcriptional gene signatures may contribute to the understanding of the pathophysiology of sarcoidosis, and may even serve as diagnostic tools in the future.
...
PMID:Diagnostic criteria for sarcoidosis. 2442 72