Successful treatment of muscle sarcoidosis with thalidomide.

A 36-year-old male patient suffered from therapy resistant sarcoidosis with long-standing contractures, myopathy, skin lesions and pulmonary changes. Low-dose therapy with thalidomide (50 mg/day) was well tolerated, and the patient rapidly improved. Thalidomide was effective for muscular, cutaneous, and pulmonary involvement in our patient. This is the first report on the efficacy of thalidomide in muscle sarcoidosis. Therefore, thalidomide may become a second-line agent in patients with severe muscle and skin involvement, but further studies are warranted.