LOFGREN SYNDROME

Course overview

LOFGREN SYNDROME IS A CLINICALLY DISTINCT PHENOTYPE OF SARCOIDOSIS, FIRST DESCRIBED IN 1946 BY SWEDISH PULMONOLOGIST SVEN LOFGREN. SARCOIDOSIS IS A MULTISYSTEM GRANULOMATOUS DISORDER OF UNKNOWN ETIOLOGY THAT COMMONLY INVOLVES THE LUNGS WITH THE SECOND MOST COMMONLY AFFECTED ORGAN BEING THE SKIN. CUTANEOUS MANIFESTATIONS OF SARCOIDOSIS ARE SEEN IN UP TO 33% OF PATIENTS AND MAY BE THE FIRST CLINICAL SIGN OF THE DISEASE. IN CONTRAST TO THE OFTEN-INSIDIOUS ONSET, SLOW DISEASE PROGRESSION AND CHRONIC DISEASE COURSE TYPICAL OF SARCOIDOSIS, LOFGREN’S SYNDROME PRESENTS ACUTELY. IT TYPICALLY PRESENTS IN YOUNGER PATIENTS WITH ACUTE ONSET ERYTHEMA NODOSUM, BILATERAL HILAR LYMPHADENOPATHY, FEVER, AND MIGRATORY POLYARTHRITIS, AND WITHOUT GRANULOMATOUS SKIN INVOLVEMENT. THIS ACTIVITY REVIEWS THE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH LOFGREN SYNDROME AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN THE CARE OF PATIENTS WITH THIS CONDITION.