Cutaneous and pulmonary sarcoidosis in a Hong Kong Chinese woman with silicone breast prostheses

:  Sarcoidosis is rarely reported in Hong Kong. We report cutaneous and pulmonary sarcoidosis in a 54‐year‐old Chinese woman, who presented with papular lesions over the face and neck. She had silicone breast augmentation surgery 4 years earlier. Skin biopsy revealed granulomatous inflammation and a...

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Published inRespirology (Carlton, Vic.) Vol. 8; no. 3; pp. 379 - 382
Main Authors CHANG, Kwok‐Chiu, CHAN, Kam‐Tim, CHONG, Lai‐Yin, LAU, Kam‐Shing, TAM, Cheuk‐Ming, LAM, Chak‐Wah
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melbourne, Australia Blackwell Science Pty 01.09.2003
Subjects
Breast Implants - adverse effects
Diagnosis, Differential
Female
granuloma aetiology
Hong Kong
Humans
Lung - diagnostic imaging
Lung - pathology
Middle Aged
prosthesis
Respiratory Function Tests
Sarcoidosis - diagnosis
Sarcoidosis - etiology
sarcoidosis epidemiology
sarcoidosis pathology
Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary - diagnosis
Sarcoidosis, Pulmonary - etiology
silicone
Silicone Elastomers - adverse effects
Skin Diseases - diagnosis
Skin Diseases - etiology
skin diseases pathology
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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Summary::  Sarcoidosis is rarely reported in Hong Kong. We report cutaneous and pulmonary sarcoidosis in a 54‐year‐old Chinese woman, who presented with papular lesions over the face and neck. She had silicone breast augmentation surgery 4 years earlier. Skin biopsy revealed granulomatous inflammation and anti‐tuberculosis treatment was started empirically but stopped 2 months later owing to a poor response. A right supraclavicular lymph node was aspirated and revealed granulomatous inflammation. The CXR was normal initially but subsequently showed diffuse reticulonodular opacities and a small right‐sided pleural effusion. High‐resolution CT of the thorax showed mediastinal lymphadenopathy and diffuse perilymphatic nodular opacities consistent with sarcoidosis. Sputum mycobacterial culture was negative. Fibreoptic bronchoscopy showed no endobronchial lesion but the transbronchial biopsy showed granulomatous inflammation with no evidence of infection, malignancy or foreign body. Pulmonary function tests were normal except for impairment of transfer factor. One year later, most of the cutaneous lesions had healed spontaneously. The CXR showed partial improvement of the right pleural opacification but little change in the lung field. The features of sarcoidosis and its association with silicone are reviewed.
ISSN:1323-7799
1440-1843
DOI:10.1046/j.1440-1843.2003.00447.x