Stroke and neurosarcoidosis

Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States, and the leading cause of disability in the adult population. Most of the well-known risk factors for hemorrhagic and ischemic stroke can be controlled to some extent with medications and lifestyle and dietary modifications. In contrast, the contribution to stroke risk from disease entities such as inflammatory and infectious disorders may be less readily managed. One of the exceptional causes of stroke is granulomatous inflammation of primarily small and medium-sized blood vessels in patients with neurosarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is often referred to as a “disease of exclusion” (Gullapalli and Phillips, 2002). The definitive diagnosis of sarcoidosis requires histopathologic demonstration of noncaseating epithelioid granulomas that are not due to infection or malignancy.