298 Neurosarcoidosis – review of 91 patients from three UK neuroscience centres
BackgroundNeurosarcoidosis is a rare neuro-inflammatory disease with a wide variety of clinical presentations.MethodsRetrospective audit was conducted independently at Birmingham, Liverpool and Nottingham to identify patients with neurosarcoidosis and pooled data was analysed.Results88% of the 91 patients identified presented over 40 years of age. From the data available, 70% were White Caucasians, 21% Afro-Caribbeans and 8% were Asians. Optic neuritis (31%), limb weakness (30%), headaches (20%) and facial palsy (19%) were the most common clinical presentations with nearly a third of patients (27/91) having moderate or severe disability (modified Rankin scale ≥3) at onset. 27/58 (46.6%) of patients had raised serum ACE levels and 37/44 (84%) patients had raised CSF protein with 28/41 (68.3%) demonstrating CSF lymphocytosis (mean – 54, range 5 to 380 cells). 35/91 patients had radiological changes affecting the brain parenchyma with 23% showing leptomeningeal enhancement. 75% of the 36 patients with data available for CT chest showed evidence of pulmonary sarcoidosis. Steroids were administered in 84.9% (73/86) patients with 21 receiving steroid sparing drugs, mainly Azathioprine and Mycophenolate.ConclusionWe discuss the varied clinical presentation of neurosarcoidosis across three major UK neuroscience centres and attempt to risk stratify patients prior to immunomodulatory therapy.