Systemic chronic beryllium disease: beyond lung disease.

Abstract

Systemic involvement in chronic beryllium disease (CBD) has been reported only anecdotally. We describe a case series of six patients with CBD demonstrating systemic involvement across diverse occupational settings. All patients had documented occupational beryllium exposure. CBD diagnosis was confirmed by positive histology and lymphocyte proliferation test in all cases. All patients presented with signs of extrapulmonary organ involvement, including hepatic, gastric, neurologic, splenic, ocular, cutaneous, as well as possible cardiac and renal involvement. This series underscores the importance of including CBD in the differential diagnosis of sarcoidosis in workers with possible beryllium exposure, even in the presence of extrapulmonary manifestations. Clinicians should maintain awareness of extrapulmonary involvement in patients with CBD.