@article {Hostettler172, author = {Katrin Hostettler and Ueli Studler and Vlad Bratu and Arne Fischmann and Michael Tamm}, title = {Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging in sarcoidosis to assess extrapulmonary organ involvement}, volume = {40}, number = {Suppl 56}, elocation-id = {172}, year = {2012}, publisher = {European Respiratory Society}, abstract = {Introduction: Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disorder that may affect any organ of the body. There is no valid tool to assess the extent of extrapulmonary organ involvement. Whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might be a promising modality to detect extrapulmonary disease activity. Aim: To assess the validity of whole-body MRI with regard to extrapulmonary disease activity in patients with sarcoidosis. Methods: 24 consecutive patients at the Clinic of Respiratory Medicine, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland, with histologically-confirmed sarcoidosis were prospectively included. All patients underwent whole-body MRI. Pulmonary function tests and the extrapulmonary physician organ severity tool (ePOST) were assessed for each patient. Results: In total 9/24 (38\%) patients showed findings of probable or possible sarcoidal origin. 5/24 (21\%) showed skeletal lesions, 3/24 (13\%) had muscular findings and 1/24 (4\%) had enhancement of the cauda equina. ePOST score was significantly higher in those 9 patients with abnormal whole-body MRI-findings (17.3) than in those with normal images (10.6). FVC percentage predicted (\%P), TLC,\%P, and DLCO,\%P were significantly lower in those patients with abnormal skeletal enhancement compared to those without skeletal abnormalities. Conclusions: Whole-body MRI depicted manifestations of extrapulmonary sarcoidosis in 38\% of cases in an unselected patient sample. Abnormal whole-body MRI findings correlated with high ePOST scores, and might thus be a valid tool to assess extrapulmonary disease activity. Abnormal skeletal findings correlated with decreased lung volumes, and might therefore be a marker of total disease activity.}, issn = {0903-1936}, URL = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/172}, eprint = {https://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/172.full.pdf}, journal = {European Respiratory Journal} }