[A woman with painful subcutaneous nodules and dyspnea]

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem chronic disease characterised by the accumulation of inflammatory cells into the affected tissue, secondary to excessive cellular immune response. It can occur in any organ, although the most common is the lung. The skin lesions of sarcoidosis are only present in 25-30% of patients, and have a highly variable clinical expression. We report the case of a 57 year-old woman who consulted a dermatologist for painful subcutaneous nodules, and describe her history of fatigue and severe dyspnea. Due to the presence of dyspnea a chest x-ray was requested, which showed changes in the parenchyma and hilum. A skin and transbronchial biopsy was subsequently performed, which confirmed the diagnosis of sarcoidosis. The skin and lung lesions subsided after prolonged treatment with oral adrenal cortex hormones.