Between one in 5,000 and one in 20,000 people are affected by sarcoidosis, according to Orphanet, the reference portal on rare diseases and orphan drugs. In France, 6,000 to 12,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Rare and non-contagious, sarcoidosis – also called Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease (or BBS) – is an immune system disorder that primarily attacks the lungs and lymph nodes, in 90% of cases. But this inflammatory disease can still affect any organ, like the skin, bones, liver, heart, eyes, kidneys… This is what Mohammed VI, the king of Morocco, seems to suffer from. The 60-year-old sovereign appeared very emaciated in May 2023, raising many questions about his state of health, as reported at the time The Dispatch. And, according to information from M6-RTL confirming those of Parisian, Mohammed VI would receive treatment for sarcoidosis in France For years. It is for this reason that he was absent from his country on the evening of Friday September 8, 2023, when a terrible earthquake devastated the Marrakech region, leading to the death of more than 2,000 people.
In 2018, the Moroccan king had an operation at the Ambroise-Paré clinic in Neuilly-sur-Seine, in the Paris region. His doctors at the time concluded that “atrial flutter on a healthy heart”, before later discovering that it was actually sarcoidosis. They then practiced “radiofrequency ablation”. Nearby ParisianÉléonore Hebbar, cardiologist at Lille University Hospital, explains that it “It is quite rare that we discover the heart attack first” in cases of sarcoidosis. “Most often it is a problem in the lungs which allows the diagnosis.”
Symptoms, causes, treatment… What is sarcoidosis, or Besnier-Boeck-Schaumann disease?
In the organs affected by this pathology, an agglomeration of cells is formed. These are called “granulomas”. There are several forms of the disease. It is most often benign – which corresponds to what we call Löfgren Syndrome – but can in certain cases become chronic and last for many years: between 5 and 15 years. It can also evolve under a very severe and fatal form, but this remains very rare since only 0.5 to 5% of cases are affected. Although some patients may be asymptomatic, others usually manifest fatigue, fever and weight loss. Depending on the organs affected, we can also observe a persistent cough, skin lesions, eye problems or even cardiac arrhythmia. A biopsy must be carried out to discover sarcoidosis, because it can be similar to other pathologies such as tuberculosis during different examinations, like the x-ray.
As explained the website of the Rothschild Foundation Hospital, regular monitoring of the patient is necessary for several years after diagnosis, even in mild forms of the disease. For serious cases, however, treatment is mainly based on taking corticosteroids. Although the exact causes of sarcoidosis are still unknown, which explains why it is so difficult to diagnose, it could nevertheless have a genetic origin.