Dr. Tosin Fakiyesi, MBBS is a GMC-registered Resident Medical Officer in the United Kingdom with over five years of clinical experience in emergency medicine, general medicine, surgery, paediatrics, and obstetrics & gynaecology. He currently works with NES Healthcare, providing acute inpatient care while actively pursuing the MRCP qualification. Dr. Fakiyesi graduated from the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and holds Full GMC Registration with a Licence to Practise. His clinical interests include acute and emergency medicine, internal medicine, clinical governance, quality improvement, and medical education. He has authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications in neurology, artificial intelligence in healthcare, stroke medicine, obstetrics, and cardiology. Alongside his research, he is actively involved in teaching medical students and junior doctors and has led multiple clinical audits and quality improvement initiatives. Dr. Fakiyesi's long-term career goal is to become an NHS Consultant Physician, contributing to excellence in patient care, research, and medical education.

Cardiopulmonary Sarcoidosis in African Women: Clinical Burden, Diagnostic Challenges, and Emerging Therapeutic Strategies in West Africa BackgroundPulmonary sarcoidosis accounts for over 90% of sarcoidosis cases and remains the leading cause of disease-related morbidity and mortality. Women of African ancestry experience a disproportionately high burden of disease, with greater multisystem involvement, more severe pulmonary complications, and poorer long-term outcomes. In West Africa, the true burden of cardiopulmonary sarcoidosis is likely underestimated because of limited epidemiological data, frequent misdiagnosis as tuberculosis, and restricted access to advanced diagnostic facilities.ObjectiveTo review the clinical burden of cardiopulmonary sarcoidosis in African women, highlighting respiratory manifestations, diagnostic challenges, current therapeutic strategies, and future opportunities to improve care in resource-limited West African settings.MethodsA comprehensive narrative review of published literature was conducted to evaluate epidemiology, pulmonary and cardiac manifestations, diagnostic approaches, treatment strategies, and emerging targeted therapies relevant to cardiopulmonary sarcoidosis in West Africa.ResultsPulmonary involvement remains the dominant clinical manifestation, ranging from asymptomatic bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy to progressive pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension, respiratory failure, and death. Although clinically recognized in only a minority of patients, cardiac sarcoidosis contributes substantially to morbidity through conduction abnormalities, ventricular arrhythmias, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. Diagnostic pathways in West Africa are significantly hindered by overlapping clinical and radiological features with tuberculosis, limited availability of bronchoscopy, histopathology, high-resolution computed tomography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, and FDG-PET imaging, together with low disease awareness and delayed specialist referral. Corticosteroids remain the first-line treatment, while conventional immunosuppressants provide steroid-sparing benefits. Emerging targeted therapies such as TNF-α inhibitors, Janus kinase inhibitors, interleukin inhibitors, and B-cell-directed therapies have demonstrated encouraging efficacy in refractory disease but remain largely inaccessible across West Africa because of high costs, inadequate healthcare financing, limited specialist expertise, and insufficient diagnostic infrastructure.ConclusionCardiopulmonary sarcoidosis represents an important yet under-recognized respiratory disease among African women in West Africa. Earlier recognition of pulmonary disease, improved differentiation from tuberculosis, increased access to advanced respiratory diagnostics, multidisciplinary care, regional disease registries, and equitable access to emerging immunomodulatory therapies are essential to improving patient outcomes. Greater investment in locally relevant research and respiratory healthcare infrastructure will be critical for reducing disease burden across the region. Keywords: Sarcoidosis; Pulmonary sarcoidosis; Cardiac sarcoidosis; African women; West Africa; Respiratory medicine; Tuberculosis; Targeted therapy.