A Case of Sarcoidosis Complicated by Sjögren's Syndrome and Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Abstract

The case presented was a 55 year old woman, who was noted as having abnormal chest shadows during a routine health check up in 2004. The chest X-ray showed bilateral hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. The histological diagnosis of the lung specimens was sarcoidosis. Since February 2005, she has begun to complain of salivary hyposecretion and a feeling of dry eyes. By further examination it was found that she also suffered from the histological and clinical evidence of Sjögren's syndrome. In May, the left cervical lymph nodes had become palpable. After an administration of prednisolone, the swelling of these lymph nodes was temporarily reduced, but then lymph node swelling appeared again; rapidly becoming larger and accompanied with minor tenderness. The microscopic findings of biopsy specimens showed Hodgkin's lymphoma. Cases of sarcoidosis coexisting with Sjögren's syndrome or Hodgkin's lymphoma have occasionally been reported. To the best our knowledge, a patient with sarcoidosis, complicated with both Sjögren's syndrome and Hodgkin's lymphoma has never been published. The precise mechanism or possible cause and effect relation among these diseases are unknown at present. But as these lesions developed during the same period, a common immunopathogenesis might exist in the background, mainly concerning T lymphocytes. For this reason, we should carefully treat patients with sarcoidosis, being aware of the possible coexistence of autoimmune disorders or other malignant diseases.