Peritoneal sarcoidosis: A case report.

RATIONALE

Sarcoidosis is an idiopathic granulomatous disease. Although the lungs are most commonly involved, any organ may be affected. To assist with future diagnoses, we describe a rare case of peritoneal sarcoidosis in a young female patient, and present a literature review.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 32-year-old female patient presented to our institution with abdominal discomfort. She was evaluated with contrast-enhanced abdominal computed tomography (CT), and multiple enlarged lymph nodes were detected at the hepatic artery and left gastric artery nodal stations. The patient was lost during follow-up, but returned after 7 months and again underwent abdominal CT. This revealed diffuse nodular thickening of the peritoneum and the appearance of omental cake in her abdomen.

DIAGNOSIS

Excisional biopsy of a lymph node was performed and extrapulmonary sarcoidosis was confirmed.

INTERVENTIONS

The patient was treated with corticosteroid.

OUTCOMES

A follow-up abdominal CT scan after two weeks revealed decreases in the numbers and sizes of the previously enlarged lymph nodes, and improvement in the ascites and peritoneal thickening.

LESSIONS

Peritoneal sarcoidosis should be considered as an additional differential diagnosis when peritoneal carcinomatosis or tuberculous peritonitis are suspected. In this regard, serum levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) may be a valuable diagnostic indicator of unusual sarcoidosis presentations.