Two cases of ocular sarcoidosis in which vitreous cytology was useful for supporting the diagnosis

The purpose of this paper is to report two cases of sarcoidosis with conflicting signs in which vitreous cytology was useful for supporting the diagnosis. Case 1 was a 56-year-old man who was referred with blurred vision, and was found to have iridocyclitis, vitreous opacities, and optic neuritis bilaterally. He also had a swelling of both mandibular glands. He received pulsed corticosteroid therapy, but the vitreous opacities and papilledema did not resolve. The second case was a 77-year-old man referred with blurred vision, and both eyes had snowball-like vitreous opacities and optic neuritis. The ocular findings in both cases strongly suggested sarcoidosis, but the systemic findings did not meet the diagnostic criteria for sarcoidosis. We performed pars plana vitrectomy to remove the vitreous opacities, and the collected vitreous samples were sent for cytological analyses. Epithelioid and multinucleated giant cells pathognomonic of sarcoidosis were found in the vitreous samples which enabled us to make a diagnosis of sarcoidosis. Vitreous cytology can help in supporting a diagnosis of sarcoidosis, especially in cases of ocular inflammation suggesting sarcoidosis but systemic findings that do not satisfy the diagnostic criteria for this disease.