52 patients thought to have sarcoid heart involvement have been followed up. By administration of a standardized glucocorticoid therapy we demonstrated improvement of patients' symptoms, ECG disturbances, thallium scan defects of left heart muscle and there was 60-70% regression of pulmonary sarcoidosis. There was a low death rate. We conclude that our diagnostic measures are reliable, and that glucocorticoid therapy is efficacious in the early stages of the disease.
A 54-year-old man was admitted to hospital because of chronic right-sided heart failure. Echocardiography revealed dilatation of all chambers of the heart. Cardiac catheterization showed high-output heart failure due to left-to-right shunt caused by a congenital fistula between the right iliac artery and vein. The fistula was closed by percutaneous implantation of a covered stent. 15 months later, the patient denied any cardiac complaint. On echocardiography, the size of all chambers had almost normalized, cardiac catheterization proved a normal cardiac output. By angiography and oximetry, neither a residual nor a relapsing shunt were seen.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.