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Cardiac Sarcoidosis

  • Myocardial Disease (A Abbate and G Sinagra, Section Editors)
  • Published:
Current Cardiology Reports Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose of Review

In this state-of-the-art review, we highlight our current understanding of diagnosis, assessment, and management of cardiac sarcoidosis (CS), focusing on recently published data and expert consensus statement guidelines.

Recent Findings

Academic interest in cardiac sarcoidosis research has increased over the past decade along with increased clinical awareness among clinicians. In 2014, the Heart Rhythm Society published the first expert consensus statement on diagnosing and managing arrhythmias associated with CS. Cardiac magnetic resonance has emerged as a valuable tool both for diagnosing CS and predicting risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias based on burden of late gadolinium enhancement. Cardiac fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography now plays a role in diagnosis, risk stratification, and assessing response to immunosuppressive therapy.

Summary

Collaborative, multidisciplinary research efforts are needed to further our understanding of this rare, complex disease. Two large multicenter prospective registries—the international Cardiac Sarcoidosis Consortium and the Canadian Cardiac Sarcoidosis Research Group—are enrolling patients to help provide insights into the natural history of the disease and current treatment strategies. Future research should focus on randomized controlled trials comparing different treatment strategies and identifying and testing novel therapeutic agents.

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Correspondence to Jordana Kron.

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Pranav Mankad, Brian Mitchell, David Birnie, and Jordana Kron declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Mankad, P., Mitchell, B., Birnie, D. et al. Cardiac Sarcoidosis. Curr Cardiol Rep 21, 152 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-019-1238-1

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