Coexistence of neurosarcoidosis and multiple sclerosis

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem inflammatory disease of unknown etiology that predominantly affects the lungs and intrathoracic lymph nodes, but in 6% of cases it also occurs in central or peripheral nervous system. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated inflammatory disease that attacks myelinated axons in the central nervous system. Coexistence of sarcoidosis and other autoimmune diseases like MS is rarely reported in the literature. We present a case report of a patient with coexisting sarcoidosis and MS, with a positive family history of MS. Symptoms of sarcoidosis appeared three years before the onset of symptoms typical for MS. Similarity of demyelinating lesions in the nervous system, increased IgG in cerebrospinal fluid and good response to corticosteroid treatment point to similar etiology. The onset of diseases like sarcoidosis and MS in the same patient over a period of only a few years opens the question whether the two separate entities come in sequence or the onset of sarcoidosis occurs during development of typical clinical presentation of MS.