Walsh & Hoyt: Historical Background

Sarcoidosis probably was first described by Hutchinson in 1898, who noted anun usual skin eruption that he called ""Mortimers malady."" In 1889, Besnier described the same condition affecting the nose, ear lobules, and fingers. The eruption was violaceous and resembled the lesions of frostbite. It therefore was called lupus pernio (from the Latin words lupus, meaning ""wolf,"" and pernio, meaning ""chilblain""). Subsequent histopathologic examination of such lesions demonstrated an inflammatory process characterized by epithelioid cells and a few giant cells. It soon became clear that this cutaneous lesion could be associated with disease in a variety of tissues, including the lungs, salivary glands, subcutaneous tissues, bones, and eyes. Some of the initial descriptions of the clinical and histopathologic features of the disease were reported by Caesar Boeck and coworkers, and the disease became known as Boecks sarcoid (from the Greek words sarx, meaning ""flesh,"" and eidos, meaning ""appearance""). Finally, in 1916, Schaumann reported clinical observations that clearly demonstrated the systemic, multiorgan involvement of the disease, and the condition became known as Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease or, simply, sarcoidosis.