Perng R P, Chen J H, Tsai T T, Hsieh W C
Chest Department, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
J Formos Med Assoc. 1997 Sep;96(9):697-9.
Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disorder of unknown causes, characterized by widespread noncaseating epithelioid cell granuloma in more than one organ. It is rare among Chinese people. In recent years, a rapidly increasing incidence among inpatients of the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei has been noted. We retrospectively reviewed the records at our hospital from January 1960 through December 1995. We found 38 cases of sarcoidosis with biopsy-proven involvement of at least one organ system, in addition to either a typical clinical manifestation or chest radiograph. The disease-specific rate per thousand admissions increased from 0.0025 in the 1960s to 0.004 in the 1980s: for 1990 to 1995, it jumped to 0.027. Two possible explanations for the increasing incidence are greater awareness and recognition of this disease among physicians and pathologists, and advances in invasive diagnostic techniques and histopathology. Compared with patients in Western countries, sarcoidosis among Chinese patients in Taiwan had the following characteristics: 1) a higher frequency of patients (97%) had intrathoracic involvement, 2) there was a low incidence of hypercalcemia and hyperglobulinemia, and 3) there was an inclination toward older age at presentation. In conclusion, the incidence of sarcoidosis among Chinese in Taiwan has increased in the past 3 decades. The clinical presentations of patients differed from those reported from Western countries.
结节病是一种病因不明的多系统疾病，其特征是在多个器官中出现广泛的非干酪样上皮样细胞肉芽肿。在中国人群中较为罕见。近年来，台北荣民总医院住院患者的发病率迅速上升。我们回顾性分析了我院1960年1月至1995年12月的病历记录。我们发现38例经活检证实至少累及一个器官系统的结节病患者，伴有典型临床表现或胸部X光片表现。每千例入院患者中的疾病发生率从20世纪60年代的0.0025上升到80年代的0.004：1990年至1995年，跃升至0.027。发病率上升的两个可能原因是医生和病理学家对该疾病的认识和识别提高，以及侵入性诊断技术和组织病理学的进步。与西方国家的患者相比，台湾中国患者的结节病具有以下特点：1）患者胸腔受累的频率较高（97%），2）高钙血症和高球蛋白血症的发生率较低，3）发病时倾向于年龄较大。总之，台湾中国人结节病的发病率在过去30年中有所上升。患者的临床表现与西方国家报道的不同。
