Systemic Treatment of Sarcoidosis.

Purpose: To compare the evidence base and systemic treatment strategies for sarcoidosis. Methods: Medline and EMBASE literature search on ''sarcoidosis AND treatment'', ''sarcoidosis AND uveitis AND treatment'', and ''sarcoidosis AND eye AND treatment''. The search was limited to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses. Results: A total of 19 RCTs for the systemic treatment of extraocular sarcoidosis were identified. The majority were on corticosteroid--oral and inhaled. There were two meta-analyses on corticosteroid, including a Cochrane review. Only two RCTs were indentified for the treatment of intraocular sarcoidosis, one on etanercept, and the other from 1967 on prednisolone or oxyphenbutazone vs. placebo. There were no meta-analyses. Due to the paucity of RCTs other treatment studies were included but these were limited to only a few immunosuppressive agents and on small numbers of patients. Conclusion: Limited high-quality evidence exists for the systemic treatment of sarcoidosis, in particular intraocular disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]