The epidemiology of sarcoidosis in Rochester, Minnesota: a population-based study of incidence and survival.

Using the unique data resources of the Rochester Epidemiology Project, a community-based study of clinically diagnosed sarcoidosis was conducted. In this population-based study, the 75 Rochester, Minnesota, residents with sarcoidosis initially diagnosed between 1946 and 1975 (incidence cohort) were followed through their comprehensive medical records in the community to January 1, 1982. The age- and sex-adjusted incidence of sarcoidosis was 6.1 per 100,000 person-years. The age-adjusted incidence of sarcoidosis was similar in males (5.9) and females (6.3), with a peak incidence in males 30 to 39 years old (18.7) and in females 40 to 49 years old (15.6). A secular increase in sarcoidosis incidence was noted in the period 1946-1975 for females, with a marked increase in the number and percentage of biopsy-documented cases. Seasonal variation in sarcoidosis incidence was minimal, with a seasonal peak of 31% of the Rochester cases being diagnosed during the spring (March-May). Survival, compared with that of the North Central United States, was unimpaired in this sarcoidosis incidence cohort.