Sarcoidosis and lymphoma: case series and literature review.

This is a case series and literature review of patients with various types of hematologic disorders and sarcoidosis. The patients were treated in the hematologic day care unit at Shaare Zedek medical center and at the hematology department of Chaim Sheba Medical Center hospital from 1990 until 2008. We report eight cases from two centers where both diseases were diagnosed at different time points. We have shown that there might be coincidence of two rare conditions and emphasize the importance of tissues sampling of lesions suspected to be a relapse of a former biopsy-proven disease, even in the presence of positive PET results.

[Vitamin B12 deficiency: neurological disease with minimal or no anemia].

3 patients with vitamin B12 deficiency are described (men aged 64 and 67 and a women of 75). All presented with neurological disease; 2 had had severe weight loss. In 1 neither anemia nor macrocytosis was found, while in 2 there was only mild macrocytic anemia, so that the diagnosis was established quite late during the disease. These patients demonstrate that a high index of suspicion is required to diagnose vitamin B12 deficiency when there are only mild or no hematological abnormalities. This is especially important because of the direct relation between time elapsed before therapy and the irreversibility of neurological damage. Of note is the severe weight loss simulating malignant disease that can be the presenting symptom or appear during the course of the disease.