Sarcoidosis of the Central Nervous System

Introduction The systemic nature of sarcoidosis has been recognized for many years,¹and its cutaneous, visceral, and lymphohematopoietic manifestations are well documented.²Peripheral³and cranial nerve involvement are not infrequent, the latter being present in half of the patients with uveoparotid fever.⁴Invasion of the central nervous system, however, is unusual. It was first demonstrated pathologically in 1907, by Tillgren, in a case of sarcoid chorioependymitis.⁵Twenty-one clinically well-documented cases of sarcoidosis of the central nervous system have been published since in which the diagnosis was substantiated at necropsy and 7 cases in which it was confirmed by surgical biopsy. Of these 29 cases of central nervous system sarcoidosis, 10 clinically simulated brain tumor.⁵⁻¹⁴ The following case is of interest because it presented a clinical picture of multiple brain tumors associated with disturbances of the hypothalamic function. Needle biopsy suggested intracranial sarcoidosis. At autopsy,