Cardiac Sarcoidosis

[Régurgitation mitrale sévère due à la sarcoïdose cardiaque : une présentation clinique inhabituelle ; une étude de cas et des recherches antérieures]

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous inflammatory disease that may involve multiple organ systems, including the heart. Cardiac manifestations are not rare and include atrial and ventricular arrhythmias, conduction abnormalities, congestive heart failure, valvular dysfunction, pericarditis, and sudden death. Although, cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) remains a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. This article describes a case of a patient with a history of pulmonary sarcoidosis who presented with congestive heart failure, on the basis of severe mitral regurgitation secondary to cardiac infiltration and summarizes the published evidence regarding CS and mitral regurgitation.

Myocardial Involvement in Patients With Histologically Diagnosed Cardiac Sarcoidosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Gross Pathological Images From Autopsy or Cardiac Transplantation Cases

Background

In patients with suspected cardiac sarcoidosis, late gadolinium enhancement on cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging and/or ¹⁸F‐fluorodeoxyglucose uptake on positron emission tomography are often used to reach a clinical diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis. On the basis of data from the imaging literature of clinical cardiac sarcoidosis, no specific features of myocardial involvement are regarded as pathognomonic for cardiac sarcoidosis. Thus, a diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis is challenging to make. There has been no systematic analysis of histologically diagnosed cardiac sarcoidosis for patterns of myocardial involvement. We hypothesized that certain patterns of myocardial involvement are more frequent in histologically diagnosed cardiac sarcoidosis.

Methods and Results

We performed a systematic review and meta‐analysis of gross pathological images from the published literature of patients with histologically diagnosed cardiac sarcoidosis who underwent autopsy or cardiac transplantation. Thirty‐three eligible articles provided images of 49 unique hearts. Analysis of these hearts revealed certain features of myocardial involvement in >90% of cases: left ventricular (LV) subepicardial, LV multifocal, septal, and right ventricular free wall involvement. In contrast, other patterns were seen in 0% to 6% of cases: absence of gross LV myocardial involvement, isolated LV midmyocardial involvement, isolated LV subendocardial involvement, isolated LV transmural involvement, absence of septal involvement, or isolated involvement of only one LV level.

Conclusions

In this systematic review and meta‐analysis of histologically diagnosed cardiac sarcoidosis, we identified certain features of myocardial involvement that occurred frequently and others that occurred rarely or never. These patterns could aid the interpretation of cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography imaging and improve the diagnosis and the prognostication of patients with suspected cardiac sarcoidosis.

See Editorial Patel et al

Late gadolinium enhancement identified with cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in sarcoidosis patients is associated with long-term ventricular arrhythmia and sudden cardiac death

AIMS

Cardiac involvement with sarcoidosis is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in affected individuals. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging promises a new and more accurate assessment of cardiac sarcoidosis by identifying typical patterns of myocardial fibrosis. We assessed the utility of CMR in the prediction of adverse outcomes.

METHODS AND RESULTS

One hundred and six CMR patients with biopsy-proven extracardiac and/or presumed cardiac sarcoidosis were enrolled. Late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) on CMR typical of sarcoidosis was used to determine the presence of cardiac involvement. Clinical endpoints and medical records were assessed and those with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) underwent device interrogation. Survival rates of patients with cardiac sarcoidosis were compared with those with only extracardiac disease. CMR identified 32 (30%) individuals as having cardiac sarcoidosis; the remaining 74 (70%) had only extracardiac disease. At a mean follow-up time of 36.8 ± 20.5 months, patients with cardiac sarcoidosis had a higher rate of the composite cardiac endpoint--comprising sudden cardiac death (SCD) and ventricular tachyarrhythmia--compared with those with only extracardiac disease (P < 0.001). There was a higher rate of SCD or ICD-aborted SCD in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis vs. those without (P = 0.005). In patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, the rate of SCD was lower in those with an ICD compared with those without (P < 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with evidence of cardiac sarcoidosis on CMR have higher rates of adverse cardiovascular events than those with only extracardiac disease. In patients with sarcoidosis detected on CMR, the presence of an ICD is associated with a lower rate of SCD.