Sarcoidosis: No longer a benign disease?

In terms of trends, Mirsaeidi et al. found by regression analysis that the overall mortality rate for sarcoidosis as the primary cause of death between 1999 and 2010 remained stable, accounting for the yearly variability in rates over time. [...]new imaging techniques such as cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or positron emission tomography (PET) may now be revealing sarcoidosis as a cause of arrhythmias or cardiac failure; fatal events that may have been previously misclassified due to lack of available diagnostics. [...]improving awareness of sarcoidosis morbidity by physicians could also partially be contributing to the timely rise in rate, as the American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society/World Association of Sarcoidosis and Other Granulomatous Disorders Statement on Sarcoidosis was published in 1999 [11], and the largest case control study for sarcoidosis etiology (ACCESS study) was ongoing at that time with recruitment in academic centers across the United States [12].