Monday June 28, 2010
Picture Diagnosis
(Stages of Sarcoidosis)

Answer: Bilateral hilar enlargement (lymphadenopathy) with clear lung parenchyma. Probable Diagnosis is Sarcoidosis. Frequently, sarcoidosis is diagnosed because of a chest x-ray, taken routinely or for some other reason. A staging system is used to classify chest x-rays taken to detect sarcoidosis.
Stage 0 - normal chest x-ray.

Stage 1 - chest x-ray with enlarged lymph nodes but otherwise clear lungs.

Stage 2 - chest x-ray with enlarged lymph nodes plus infiltrates in the lungs.

Stage 3 - chest x-ray that shows the infiltrates are present but the lymph nodes are no longer seen.

Stage 4 - shows scar tissue in the lung tissue.

X-ray stages do not tell the severity of the disease. However, in general the higher the stage of the x-ray, the worse the person’s symptoms and lung function (PFTs). But there is a lot of individual variation, and persons at Stages 0 through 3 may or may not have symptoms.