A striking and unexplained feature of granulomatous inflammation is its anatomical association with the lymphatic system. Accumulating evidence suggests that lymphatic tracks and granulomas may alter the function of each other. The formation of new lymphatics, or lymphangiogenesis, is an adaptive response to tumor formation, infection, and wound healing. Granulomas also may induce lymphangiogenesis which, through a variety of mechanisms, could contribute to disease outcomes in tuberculosis and sarcoidosis. On the other hand, alterations in lymph node function and lymphatic (...) draining may be primary events which attenuate the risk and severity of granulomatous inflammation. This review begins with an introduction of granulomatous inflammation and the lymphatic system. A role of the lymphatic system in tuberculosis and sarcoidosis is then hypothesized. With a focus on lymphangiogenesis in these diseases, and on the potential for this process to promote dissemination, parallels are established with the well‐established role of lymphangiogenesis in tumor biology. (shrink)

Though there has been an array of methods to evaluate the extent of sarcoidosis, it is generally difficult to detect central nervous system involvement. Recently it has become accepted that 18F-FDG PET is more sensitive than gallium scintigraphy in finding sarcoid lesions, however its usefulness and limitations for detecting sarcoidosis in the central nervous system, especially in the spinal cord, has rarely been investigated. Two patients with pathologically confirmed sarcoidosis manifested spinal symptoms. We conducted 18F-FDG PET along (...) with conventional imagings before and after treatment. Abnormal FDG uptakes which could not be detected by gallium scintigraphy were shown in the spinal cords in both patients. These abnormal uptakes were diminished in accordance with clinical improvement after treatment. Our findings suggest that 18F-FDG PET is effective in detecting and tracking the activity of spinal sarcoidosis. (shrink)

It is hardly controversial that laypeople have little-to-no knowledge concerning the actual meaning of such specialist terms as “boson” or “sarcoidosis” (at best, they can say that sarcoidosis is a disease and boson is some particle.) It has been convincingly shown (Burge, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1989, 2003; Putnam, 1973, 1975, 1978) that not the community as a whole, but rather relevant experts play an essential role in determining the meaning of such specialist terms. Normative inferentialism, an important alternative (...) to more traditional representational semantics, is an essentially social theory that emphasizes the role a linguistic community as a whole plays in determining linguistic meaning: Communal inferential rules are constitutive of expressions’ meanings. To date, inferentialists have largely ignored highly specialised discourses. This article fills that gap. I argue that the normative inferentialist can account for highly specialised discourses in a manner that respects Burgean insights concerning the critical role of the relevant experts in determining linguistic meaning. The result stems naturally from the central point of inferentialism: The game of giving and asking for reasons. (shrink)