Abstract
Study design: Case report. Clinical setting: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Case report: Sarcoidosis is a multi-system granulomatous disease of unknown etiology with worldwide distribution. The involvement of the nervous system is common - neurosarcoidosis. Immune responses play an important role in the inflammatory process and granuloma formation. We report a case of neurosarcoidosis that was refractory to two courses of intravenous steroids. Upon initiation of oral thalidomide, the patient showed dramatic improvement clinically and on magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: Thalidomide is an immunomodulatory agent that acts to inhibit production of tumor-necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), an important mediator in CNS inflammation, by enhancing TNF-α mRNA degradation. Corticosteroids have been the mainstay of treatment of neurosarcoidosis with success at halting progression of the immune process in 50% cases. Thalidomide offers unique opportunities at managing CNS inflammation due to neurosarcoidosis. Disclosures: None.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 802-803 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | Spinal Cord |
Volume | 45 |
Issue number | 12 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2007 |
Keywords
- Immunotherapy
- Neurosarcoidosis
- Thalidomide
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Neurology
- Clinical Neurology