Clinical presentations and diagnostic work-up in sarcoidosis: A series of Turkish cases (clinics and diagnosis of sarcoidosis)

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic granulomatous disease. It usually affects the lung. The diagnosis may be problematic since the known causes of granulomatous inflammation must be excluded. This multicenter study aimed to evaluate the clinical presentations and diagnostic approaches of sarcoidosis. The study protocol was sent via internet, and the participants were asked to send the information (clinical, radiological and diagnostic) on newly diagnosed sarcoidosis cases. 293 patients were enrolled within two years. Pulmonary symptoms were found in 73.3% of the patients, and cough was the most common one (53.2%), followed by dyspnea (40.3%). Constitutional symptoms were occured in half of the patients. The most common one was fatigue (38.6%). The most common physical sign was eritema nodosum (17.1%). The most common chest radiograhical sign was bilateral hilar lymphadenomegaly (78.8%). Staging according to chest X-ray has revealed that most of the patients were in Stage I and Stage II (51.9% and 31.7%, respectively). Sarcoidosis was confirmed histopathologically in 265 (90.4%) patients. Although one-third of the bronchoscopy was revealed normal, mucosal hyperemi (19.8%) and external compression of the bronchial wall (16.8%) were common abnormal findings. The 100% success rate was obtained in mediastinoscopy among the frequently used sampling methods. Transbronchial biopsy was the most frequently used method with 48.8% success rate. Considering sarcoidosis with its most common and also rare findings in the differential diagnosis, organizing the related procedures according to the possibly effected areas, and the expertise of the team would favor multimodality diagnosis

The effect of cervical spine surgery on respiratory parameters

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of cervical spine surgery on respiratory function. Material and methods: Totally 46 patients who had undergone cervical spine surgery (30 patients in physiotherapy group and 16 patients in control) were evaluated in this study. Thoracic mobility, arterial blood gas analysis, pulmonary function parameters, and pain intensity were assessed preoperatively, postoperatively on the 7th day and the 8th week. Patients in the physiotherapy group were treated with chest physiotherapy program including deep breathing exercises, modified postural drainage, percussion, vibration, coughing, stimulation techniques and postural exercises twice a day, five days a week for two weeks. After being discharged, patients were given a home exercise program for 8 weeks. Results: When preoperative, postoperative 7th day and 8th week outcomes were compared, both physiotherapy and control groups showed statistically significant decrease in respiratory parameters on the postoperative 7th day (p0.05). On the postoperative 7th day, pain severity was significantly high in both groups (p0.05). Conclusion: Respiratory functions can be negatively affected in the patients who undergo cervical spine surgery. However, pulmonary parameters can be improved with the application of chest physiotherapy