AI Article Synopsis

  • Sarcoidosis primarily affects healthy individuals in their 40s and 50s, but there's limited epidemiological data on this condition in Belgium, making its relationship to global trends unclear.
  • A two-year cohort study analyzed 234 patients at a regional academic center, focusing on demographics, health metrics, and occupational backgrounds.
  • Findings indicated a predominance of male patients (60%), modest changes in lung function, and a significant representation of individuals working in construction and industrial sectors, marking the largest report on sarcoidosis in Belgium to date.

Article Abstract

Background: Sarcoidosis is a non-caseating granulomatous disease, mostly affecting previously healthy persons in their fourth and fifth decade. In Belgium, there is a paucity of epidemiological data concerning sarcoidosis and it is unknown to what respect national data on sarcoidosis relates to the global epidemiology of the disease.

Objectives: In this cohort study we describe the patient population in an academic center of reference, serving both as a regional care center and a center for a tertiary referral.

Methods: We collected epidemiological data among 234 consecutive patients consulting the outpatient sarcoidosis clinic during a two-year time period. We manually explored the electronic patient file for data retrieval.

Results: Out of the 234 patients, 140 are male (60%) and 94 are female (40%) patients. Forced vital capacity showed a median decline of 2% during follow-up, whereas median diffusion capacity increased with 4% over the same period of time. Within our study cohort, we observed a preponderance in employment as construction workers (14%), the chemical industry (6%) and in the metal processing industry (6%).

Conclusion: The current study reports on epidemiological findings among the largest cohort of sarcoidosis patients in Belgium published to date.

Unlabelled: [Figure: see text].

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17843286.2020.1821493DOI Listing

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