Sarcoid heart disease: clinical course and treatment

Joint SNMMI–ASNC expert consensus document on the role of 18F-FDG PET/CT in cardiac sarcoid detection and therapy monitoring

“…Some experts advocate 6-12 mo of therapy, whereas others recommend consideration of lifelong treatment because of reports of relapse or sudden death. 83,84 Other immunosuppressive therapies, such as methotrexate, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, or infliximab, have been used with some success for systemic sarcoidosis, [85][86][87][88][89][90][91] but data regarding their use in CS are quite limited.…”

Management of end-stage sarcoidosis: pulmonary hypertension and lung transplantation

“…Not infrequently, direct myocardial involvement by granulomas and myocardial fibrosis may lead to left ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction [29]. In one study, 30% of sarcoidosis patients with evidence of PH demonstrated elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressures (Ppcw).…”

Non-Invasive Detection of Latent Cardiac Conduction Abnormalities in Patients With Pulmonary Sarcoidosis Application of Signal Averaged Electrocardiogram

“…5 However, in autopsy studies, cardiac involvements have been found in 20% to 58% of the cases, indicating latent CS does exist in a larger part of the sarcoidosis patients, even if routine electrocardiogram (ECG) shows no abnormal findings. [6][7][8] Signal averaged ECG (SAECG) is a non-invasive method to detect conduction abnormalities in patients with structural heart disease 9 and to predict the outcome (both sudden cardiac death and sustained ventricular tachycardia) in patients with coronary artery disease, 10 idiopathic hypertrophic cardiomyopathy 11 and non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy. 12,13 Late potentials (LP) detected by SAECG correspond to fragmented activation of ventricular tissue and are thought to originate from areas of delayed and heterogenous conduction within the myocardium.…”