Analysis of Age Distribution and Disease Presentation of 1269 Patients with Sarcoidosis.

Objective: While the incidence of sarcoidosis peaks between 20 and 39 years, it is comparatively low in elderly subjects. We sought to determine whether there are age-dependent differences in the demographic and laboratory characteristics of patients with sarcoidosis.

Materials and Methods: We retrospectively collected information from our database using the International Classification of Disease (ICD) diagnostic code D86 between 2008 and 2014. Patients were divided into three groups: 20-39 years old (Group 1), 40-59 years old (Group 2), and 60-80 years old (Group 3).

Results: A total of 3988 patients with code of D86 were included in the study. After the exclusion of non-eligible patients, the number of cases in Groups 1, 2, and 3 were 276, 641, and 352, respectively. The groups were compared according to demographic characteristics, ICD diagnostic codes, and laboratory parameters. The ratio of female patients was significantly higher in Group 3 than in Groups 1 and 2 (p=0.000). There was no difference in diagnostic codes of the ICD subgroups between groups (p=0.19). While the level of blood-urea nitrogen was significantly higher in Group 3 patients than in other groups (p=0.000), serum angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) values were found to be significantly low in Group 3 (p=0.010). The mean ACE values did not differ between females and males (50.8±39.3 and 59.1±45.5 mg/dL, respectively) (p=0.18).

Conclusion: The majority of patients with sarcoidosis were female in all age groups and pulmonary sarcoidosis was the most common presentation of the disease. Elderly patients (≥60 years) with sarcoidosis had lower serum ACE levels than younger patients.