AUTHOR=Manansala Michael , Ascoli Christian , Alburquerque Ana Goico , Perkins David , Mirsaedi Mehdi , Finn Patricia , Sweiss Nadera J. 

TITLE=Case Series: COVID-19 in African American Patients With Sarcoidosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine

VOLUME=Volume 7 - 2020

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.588527

DOI=10.3389/fmed.2020.588527

ISSN=2296-858X

ABSTRACT=Data on the clinical presentation and outcomes of sarcoidosis patients with COVID-19 is scarce. In this case series, we identifed 5 out of 238 sarcoidosis patients that are enrolled in an ongoing longitudinal observational study who developed COVID-19 during the study period and follow their clinical course. 4 patients recovered completely while one expired during hospital admission. Our preliminary experience suggests that African American patients with chronic sarcoidosis treated with DMARDS or anti-TNF therapy do not seem to be at increased risk of respiratory or life-threatening complications from SARS-CoV-2 compared with the general population, although at the present time, we advocate for maintaining a high level of vigilance and strict follow-up in this patient population.