[Evaluation of effects of antituberculous treatment on the course of sarcoidosis].

From 1960 to 1994 2150 sarcoid patients were observed in our Sarcoidosis Clinic. Before the diagnosis of sarcoidosis was confirmed, 52 of those patients were treated with tuberculostatics because of the radiological changes in the lung, diagnosed as tuberculosis. In no case any conventional method-smear examination for acid bacilli or culture identification was positive. There was no radiological improvement after treatment in any patient. Subsequently in all those patients sarcoidosis was diagnosed, by typical histology (48 cases) or on clinical grounds (4 patients). In 15 cases spontaneous remission was observed. 37 patients were treated with steroids and in 31 of them radiological improvement was found. In six cases stabilization of the disease was noted. The observation time after steroids treatment was from one year to 27 years. In only one case tuberculosis of the lung has developed.