Equine Sarcoidosis

Is sarcoidosis the same as sarcoids in horses? The answer is no. Sarcoidosis is not to be confused with the similar sounding equine sarcoid which is a common problem in horses consisting of discreet nodules of connective tissue. What is equine sarcoidosis? "Equine sarcoidosis is a rare idiopathic systemic condition characterized by exfoliative dermatitis, severe wasting and a sarcoidal granulomatous inflammation of several organ systems. However, several cases have been described in which a sarcoidosis-like dermatitis only affected the lower limbs of horses. This type of sarcoidosis most commonly starts with scaling and crusting of the skin and thinning of the hair coat, and these patients often do not display symptoms of systemic disease. If left untreated horses may go lame as a result of the deteriorating lesions." Granulomatous Disease in Horses, Equine Sarcoidosis

E.P.R. Reijerkerk1, E.J.B. Veldhuis Kroeze2, M.M. Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan1, 1 Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, 2 Department of Pathobiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, the Netherlands wrote an excellent article:

"Equine sarcoidosis, also known as 'equine idiopathic systemic granulomatous disease' (16), 'generalised or granulomatous disease' (13), 'systemic granulomatous disease' (19), 'equine histiocytic disease' (13) and 'equine histiocytic dermatitis' (3) is a rare disease of unknown aetiology and pathogenesis (15). Equine sarcoidosis is usually characterised by exfoliative dermatitis, less commonly by moderate to severe wasting and sarcoidal granulomatous inflammation of multiple organ systems (10, 15, 18). Sarcoidosis has been reported in humans, cattle and horses (2, 6, 14, 16)." ... Equine Sarcoidosis

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