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Compared with pulmonary sarcoidosis, sarcoidosis without lung involvement may involve other immunopathologic mechanisms and be associated with other demographic and clinical features.

This was a retrospective analysis of clinical data collected in real time on 1,686 patients with biopsy-proven sarcoidosis from two large university sarcoidosis outpatient clinics in the United States. We compared differences in demographics characteristics and clinical presentation between pulmonary and nonpulmonary sarcoidosis (NPS). Patients were considered to have NPS only if they had normal chest imaging and no features consistent with pulmonary involvement on the basis of currently accepted criteria.

A total of 8.3% of this sarcoidosis cohort met criteria for NPS. NPS was significantly more common in white than black patients, and more common in women than men. The skin was the most …