American journal of hospital pharmacy
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Sarcoidosis, the possibility of its spontaneous remission, and its responsiveness to corticosteroid and other drug therapies are discussed. Sarcoidosis is a disease of unknown etiology characterized histologicaly by a granulomatous process with cellular infiltration. The granulomatous changes may remit spontaneously or may develop into fibrosis that, at times, is severe; factors that influence these progressions of the disease are not known. ⋯ Corticosteroids only temporarily influence the natural progression of sarcoidosis; however, corticosteroid therapy can preserve the function of vital organs. Other forms of treatment, such as chloroquine, methotrexate, oxyphenbutazone, allopurinol and levamisole hydrochloride, also produce remissions of the granulomatous infiltrate of sarcoidosis but offer no therapeutic advantages over corticosteroids. The decision to treat is often a difficult one, since corticosteroids and these other therapies have potentially hazardous side effects.