title: Cardiac involvement in cutaneous sarcoidosis.
abstract: Sarcoidosis is a chronic multisystem disease that usually has a good prognosis but in some cases, especially when cardiac involvement occurs, the outcome is fatal. Cardiac sarcoidosis is insidious to diagnose because it is usually asymptomatic and when clinically apparent, it may have a wide variety of manifestations. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible cardiac involvement in cutaneous sarcoidosis patients. Diagnosis of cutaneous sarcoidosis was confirmed by skin biopsy, laboratory tests and radiological findings in 13 Caucasian patients. To evaluate cardiac damage, electrocardiography, echocardiography, and contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance were performed. Magnetic resonance identified cardiac sarcoidosis only in one of the cutaneous sarcoidosis patients. We suggest investigating cardiac involvement in patients with cutaneous sarcoidosis, albeit asymptomatic, since cardiac lesions are frequently associated with a poorer prognosis.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Health Sciences, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Drago
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Health Sciences, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy - giuliaciccarese@libero.it.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ciccarese
authors.affiliation: Section of Radiology, Department of Surgery, Morphology, and Integrated Approaches, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cittadini
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Health Sciences, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Drago
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of Genoa, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Gian M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Rosa
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Health Sciences, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuele
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cozzani
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Health Sciences, Policlinico San Martino, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Parodi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001706:Biopsy; D009202:Cardiomyopathies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology