Sarcoidosis?

[Mawsky]

I'm hoping someone out there may have some insight on this subject, several years ago I had a difficult Pneumonia that took four months to resolve, I was seeing a pulmonologist that at one point that I was still running fevers and not responding to the Antibiotics she had given suggested that she thought I had Sarcoidosis, she wanted to do a Bronchoscopy, but I refused, my xrays and CT scan showed nothing other than the pneumonia, long story short, another Dr. changed the antibiotic and started me on Nebulizer treatments, and I quickly improved. I was reading something on the Net, about dry eyes and Sarcoidosis came up, it caused me a bit of a twinge, it mentioned several problems related to sarcoids and the eyes, does anyone out there have Sarcoidosis? Any Professionals that can shed any light, my opthamologist, and ocular plastic surgeon never mentioned it as a possibility. How common is Dry eyes in Sarcoids? I have no answers for my DES just know that I don't produce my own tears anymore. I really don't want to have Sarcoidosis, the DES is enough to concern myself with right now.

[Irina2]

Dear Mawsky,

Dry eye in sarcoidosis is caused by lymphocyte infiltration, inflammation and subsequent loss of function of lacrimal glands by creating aqueous tear deficiency. It may also be caused by inflammation in the conjunctival or corneal surface byt the exact mechanism is unknown. If you have any nodules on your conjunctiva, those can be biopsed to see if they are sarcoid nodules. Your iris may also have various types of nodules and careful eye exam would help with their differentiation. Also, there are a number of blood test, e.g. ACE and lyzozyme levels, that could increase suspition of your doctor for sarcidosis. Finally, having a spiral CT scan is very helpful for finding lung lesions.

Hope it helps!
Best wishes,
Irina Ganelis, M.D.

Los Angeles Eye Institute
http://LosAngelesEyeInstitute.com

[Mawsky]

Thank you so much for the reply, it was very helpful, I have not had any of the eye docs, mention any nodules seen on any of my eye surfaces or conjunctiva, so I'm assuming that they are not seeing any (I hope) I had a chest CT and many chest Xrays done back when I was so sick, nothing was seen, other than the pneumonia thankfully, I recently had a Abd/Pelvis CT and it was noted that I have a calcified granuloma in one lung base, but it said otherwise lungs were unremarkable, again it concerned me a bit, but was told that more than likely due to infection I had several years ago. I will ask my Family Doctor about the labs, she may have done them already. Thank you again, things like this can be a bit scary, the less stress the best.