Elsevier

The Lancet

Volume 290, Issue 7515, 9 September 1967, Pages 526-528
The Lancet

ORIGINAL ARTICLES
TREATMENT OF SARCOIDOSIS: Report of a Controlled Therapeutic Trial

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(67)90493-XGet rights and content

Abstract

84 patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis and multi-system involvement received six months' treatment with prednisolone, oxyphenbutazone, or a placebo, supplied as identical tablets and allocated according to a blind random distribution. Results in 75 patients who completed treatment were judged clinically and on serial chest radiographs by clinicians and radiologists unaware of the treatment schedule. Improvement was significantly greater in those receiving the active drug (57%) than in those on the placebo (17%). Thus, whereas 1 in 6 patients showed spontaneous regression of pulmonary sarcoidosis in six months, this trial shows that the number can be improved to 1 in 2 patients if either prednisolone or oxyphenbutazone is used. Both of these anti-inflammatory agents were equally effective, and improvement was most evident in those treated within two years of the onset of the disease. Active treatment with either of these drugs is recommended if pulmonary sarcoidosis does not resolve spontaneously within a year.

References (5)

  • R. Anderson et al.

    Lancet

    (1962)
  • R. Anderson et al.

    Lancet

    (1963)
There are more references available in the full text version of this article.

Cited by (94)

  • Anti-inflammatory Therapy for Sarcoidosis

    2024, Clinics in Chest Medicine
  • Efficacy and safety of infliximab biosimilar Inflectra<sup>®</sup> in severe sarcoidosis

    2018, Respiratory Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Treatment of sarcoidosis has a multistep approach. Corticosteroids have proved to be effective as initial treatment for sarcoidosis [2–4]. In steroid-refractory cases or in the presence of steroid-associated side effects second-line treatment can be commenced using drugs such as methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate or leflunomide [5–9].

  • Antiinflammatory Therapy

    2018, Sarcoidosis: A Clinician's Guide
  • Treatment of Sarcoidosis

    2015, Clinics in Chest Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    A retrospective study at one institution found that a median dose of 19 mg daily was sufficient to treat acutely decompensated pulmonary sarcoidosis, although the doses used ranged from 10 to 40 mg daily.103 Several early prospective trials with positive results used doses as low as 10 to 20 mg daily.104–106 Therefore, it is not evident that higher doses of corticosteroids offer additional benefit for pulmonary sarcoidosis.

  • Randomised, placebo-controlled trial of dexamethasone for quality of life in pulmonary sarcoidosis

    2020, Respiratory Medicine
    Citation Excerpt :

    Therapy with corticosteroids is often started in patients experiencing an intractable cough, dyspnea on exertion or progressive deterioration of pulmonary function [3,10]. The typical initial dose is 20–40 mg prednisone equivalent per day which is subsequently tapered, although there is evidence that a starting dose of 5–15 mg is already clinically beneficial [11–13]. It is estimated that one-third to one-half of patients with sarcoidosis gets treatment with corticosteroids [1].

View all citing articles on Scopus
View full text