Factors Associated with Corticosteroid Adherence in Sarcoidosis.

Purpose: We measured corticosteroid medication adherence (CMA) in sarcoidosis patients and analyzed if demographic and clinical factors, beliefs about medications, corticosteroid side-effects, psychosocial status, and the doctor-patient relationship were associated with corticosteroid adherence.

Methods: Sarcoidosis patients receiving corticosteroids were eligible to participate. CMA was measured using the Medication Adherence Response Scale-10 (MARS-10), a validated patient reported outcome measure (PRO).

Pleural complications in patients with renal cell carcinoma undergoing percutaneous cryoablation: A retrospective analysis of its incidence and risk factors.

Rationale: Observations from our clinical practice indicate a notable occurrence of pleural complications post-percutaneous renal cryoablation (PRC).

Objective: To identify the incidence of pleural complications following PRC and potential risk factors associated with post-procedural pleural complications.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective cohort analysis of patients undergoing PRC at two tertiary hospital systems between 2016 and 2022.

Sarcoidosis Diagnostic Score (SDS) system: Impact of race, sex, organ involvement and duration of symptoms prior to diagnosis.

Background: The Sarcoidosis Diagnostic Score (SDS) system has been established for sarcoidosis patients based on the WASOG organ involvement criteria. We evaluated modifications of the SDS system to determine if they improved its the diagnostic accuracy.

Methods: Biopsy-confirmed patients with sarcoidosis seen during a 7-month period at 9 sarcoidosis centers across the world.

A Multichannel CT and Radiomics-Guided CNN-ViT (RadCT-CNNViT) Ensemble Network for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis.

Pulmonary sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous interstitial lung disease (ILD) with a variable presentation and prognosis. The early accurate detection of pulmonary sarcoidosis may prevent progression to pulmonary fibrosis, a serious and potentially life-threatening form of the disease. However, the lack of a gold-standard diagnostic test and specific radiographic findings poses challenges in diagnosing pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Diagnosis and Management of Cardiac Sarcoidosis: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association.

Cardiac sarcoidosis is an infiltrative cardiomyopathy that results from granulomatous inflammation of the myocardium and may present with high-grade conduction disease, ventricular arrhythmias, and right or left ventricular dysfunction. Over the past several decades, the prevalence of cardiac sarcoidosis has increased. Definitive histological confirmation is often not possible, so clinicians frequently face uncertainty about the accuracy of diagnosis.

Clinical Pharmacology in Sarcoidosis: How to Use and Monitor Sarcoidosis Medications.

When sarcoidosis needs treatment, pharmacotherapy is usually required. Although glucocorticoids work reliably and relatively quickly for sarcoidosis, these drugs are associated with numerous significant side effects. Such side effects are common in sarcoidosis patients, as the disease frequently has a chronic course and glucocorticoid treatment courses are often prolonged.

Health-Related Quality of Life Assessment in Sarcoidosis.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is of major concern to patients with sarcoidosis. HRQoL impairment is the most common reason to treat the disease. Advances in patient-reported outcome (PRO) methodology offer the promise to use these instruments to follow quality of life in individual patients with sarcoidosis over time.

An Artificial Intelligence Platform for the Radiologic Diagnosis of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis: An Initial Pilot Study of Chest Computed Tomography Analysis to Distinguish Pulmonary Sarcoidosis from a Negative Lung Cancer Screening Scan.

Purpose: To determine the reliability of an artificial intelligence, deep learning (AI/DL)-based method of chest computer tomography (CT) scan analysis to distinguish pulmonary sarcoidosis from negative lung cancer screening chest CT scans (Lung Imaging Reporting and Data System score 1, Lung-RADS score 1).

Methods: Chest CT scans of pulmonary sarcoidosis were evaluated by a clinician experienced with sarcoidosis and a chest radiologist for clinical and radiologic evidence of sarcoidosis and exclusion of alternative or concomitant pulmonary diseases. The AI/DL based method used an ensemble network architecture combining Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Vision Transformers (ViTs).

The Symptoms of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis.

The aim of this manuscript is to provide a comprehensive review of the etiology, measurement, and treatment of common pulmonary symptoms associated with sarcoidosis. The assessment of symptoms associated with pulmonary sarcoidosis is an important component of disease management. Some symptoms of pulmonary sarcoidosis are sensitive but nonspecific markers of disease activity, and the absence of such symptoms provides evidence that the disease is quiescent.

A 74-Year-Old Man With Dyspnea.

A 74-year-old man presented to the ED with progressive dyspnea, orthopnea, and bilateral leg swelling for 2 months. He denied cough, hemoptysis, fever, night sweats, or weight loss. He had history of COPD and chronic atrial fibrillation.

Initial behaviors and attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine in sarcoidosis patients: results of a self-reporting questionnaire.

Background: Individuals with self-declared sarcoidosis are at increased risk of COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality for which vaccination can be lifesaving. Despite this, vaccine hesitancy remains a large barrier to global acceptance of vaccination against COVID-19. We aimed to identify individuals with sarcoidosis who had and had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 vaccine to 1) establish a safety profile of COVID-19 vaccination in those with sarcoidosis and 2) to elucidate factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

The Relationship Between Serum Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Level and the Decision to Escalate Treatment of Sarcoidosis.

Purpose: We performed a retrospective analysis of a sarcoidosis cohort who had sACE obtained at their initial clinic visit, but the treating physician was blinded to the results. We examined the relationship between sACE and the treating physician's decision to escalate sarcoidosis treatment.

Methods: Treatment was considered escalated if the prednisone dose was increased or if the prednisone dose was not changed but an additional anti-sarcoidosis drug was added or the dose was increased.

Pressure-Dependent Pneumothorax and Air Leak: Physiology and Clinical Implications.

Pressure-dependent pneumothorax is a common clinical event, often occurring after pleural drainage in patients with visceral pleural restriction, partial lung resection, or lobar atelectasis from bronchoscopic lung volume reduction or an endobronchial obstruction. This type of pneumothorax and air leak is clinically inconsequential. Failure to appreciate the benign nature of such air leaks may result in unnecessary pleural procedures or prolonged hospital stay.

Deconstructing Multiorgan Sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem granulomatous disease of unknown cause [...

Potential limitations of activity tracking devices in monitoring effects of treatment for sarcoidosis.

Introduction:   activity tracker device usage can help analyze the impact of disease state and therapy on patients in clinical practice.  factors such as age, race, and gender may contribute to difficulties with using such technology.  Objective: we evaluated the effect of age, race, and gender on the usability of the Fitbit OneTM activity tracking device in sarcoidosis patients and the impact of device on sarcoidosis patients' activity.

The Management of Sarcoidosis in the 2020s by the Primary Care Physician.

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic granulomatous disease that occurs worldwide and can affect any organ. Because the presenting symptoms of sarcoidosis are not specific for the disease, the primary care physician is usually the first provider to assess these patients. In addition, patients who have previously been diagnosed with sarcoidosis are usually followed longitudinally by primary care physicians.

Living with sarcoidosis: Virtual roundtable dialogue with patients and healthcare professionals.

Background: Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease, characterised by the infiltration of various organs by non-necrotising granulomas. The disease's heterogeneity complicates the study of patients' experiences.

Objective: To gather insight into life experiences, unmet needs and views on hypothetically emerging treatment options among patients living with sarcoidosis.

Identifying a core outcome set for pulmonary sarcoidosis research - the Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research - Sarcoidosis Clinical OUtcomes Taskforce (SCOUT).

Background: Pulmonary sarcoidosis is a rare granulomatous disease of unknown aetiology. Heterogeneity in the outcomes measured in trials of treatment for pulmonary sarcoidosis has impacted on the ability to systematically compare findings, contributing to research inefficiency. The FSR-SCOUT study has aimed to address this heterogeneity by developing a core outcome set that represents a patient and health professional consensus on the most important outcomes to measure in future research for the treatment of pulmonary sarcoidosis.

Cardiac device-induced right to left shunt causing significant hypoxemia: A case report and review of literature.

We describe a patient where a pacemaker lead induced tricuspid valve changes that caused a right to left shunt through a preexisting patent foramen ovale resulting in significant hypoxemia. This event occurred years after the pacemaker had been placed. Surgical closure of the patent foramen ovale resolved the patient's hypoxemia and dyspnea.