[Correlation between clinical stages on chest X-ray and findings in transbronchial lung biopsy specimens of sarcoidosis patients].

The 565 pulmonary tissue specimens taken from 155 sarcoidosis patients by transbronchial lung biopsy (TBLB) were studied by light microscopy. In stage II and III patients, the number of granulomas, the positive rate of hyalinofibrous granuloma, the relative proportion of hyalonofibrous granuloma group, and the degree of perigranulomal fibrosis and granuloma confluence were significantly higher than those in stage 0 and I patients. In stage I patients, the resolution of bilateral hiller lymphadenopathy was significantly more frequent in the atrophic granuloma group than in the hyalinofibrous granuloma group. The pulmonary lesions had a tendency to persist for a long time in stage II and III patients with hyalinofibrous granuloma or granuloma confluence. Newly appearing pulmonary lesions showed hypertrophic granulomas, as well as, marked lymphocytic cuffing. It appears that the changes in the stage on chest X-ray relate, not to the number of granulomas, but to the morphological findings of granulomas.