NEUROSARCOIDOSIS PRESENTING AS SECONDARY AMENORRHEA IN A TEENAGER

Sarcoidosis is a systemic inflammatory disease of unknown etiology characterized by non-caseating epithelioid cell granulomata. The lungs and reticulo-endothelial system are typically involved, and virtually any organ system may be affected (1,2). Sarcoidosis involving the central nervous system is relatively uncommon, estimated to occur in approximately 5% of patients with sarcoidosis in the United States, while the incidence throughout the world may be as high as 15% (3,4). Hypothalamic dysfunction is the most common manifestation of central nervous system parenchymatous disease in neurosarcoidosis. Polyuria and polydipsia are the most frequently occurring symptoms in patients with sarcoidosis who have dysfunction of the pituitary and hypothalamus (5,6). We describe a patient with secondary amenorrhea resulting from neurosarcoidosis involving the pituitary and hypothalamus.