Gastric Sarcoidosis and Review of the Literature

Sarcoidosis is a systemic disease with a 90% predilection for the lungs, but any organ can be involved. Gastrointestinal involvement is rare. Within the gastrointestinal system, gastric involvement is the most common. When this organ system is involved, it can be a feature of systemic disease or an isolated case. Gastrointestinal sarcoid can resemble a broad spectrum of other disease processes; thus, it is important for health care providers to be familiar with the various gastrointestinal manifestations. Patients can have subclinical symptoms or have symptoms of epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting, and hematemesis. We present 2 cases of gastric sarcoid and a MEDLINE search of 44 reported cases of gastric sarcoid based on a compatible history and the demonstration of noncaseating granulomas. We describe the clinical manifestations of symptomatic gastric sarcoid in relation to the endoscopic findings.