title: Holter monitoring as a noninvasive indicator of cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis.
abstract: We investigated the usefulness of 24-h Holter monitoring for identification of myocardial involvement in 38 patients with sarcoidosis, including 12 patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, and 58 healthy controls. Ventricular ectopic beats (VEB) > or = 100 beats per day were detected in 8 (67 percent) of 12 patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, in 2 (8 percent) of 26 patients without cardiac sarcoidosis, and in 3 (5 percent) of 58 healthy controls. Holter monitoring was associated with a sensitivity of 67 percent and a specificity of 62 percent for cardiac sarcoidosis in the overall study population. In patients with sarcoidosis, specificity was 80 percent. Lown's grade 4 A and 4 B VEBs were detected in 8 (67 percent) of 12 patients with cardiac sarcoidosis, in 2 (8 percent) of 26 patients with sarcoidosis without cardiac involvement, and in 2 (3 percent) of 58 controls. Holter monitoring was associated with a sensitivity of 67 percent and a specificity of 80 percent for identification of cardiac involvement in patients with systemic sarcoidosis. Our findings suggest that 24-h Holter monitoring provides a convenient and inexpensive means of noninvasive screening for cardiac involvement in generalized sarcoidosis, even in patients and outpatients who are without symptoms.
authors.affiliation: College of Medical Care and Technology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Murata
mesh_terms: D005117:Cardiac Complexes, Premature / Q000175:diagnosis; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
chemical_list: D013794:Thallium Radioisotopes