title: Sarcoidosis and the heart: A review of the literature.
abstract: Sarcoidosis is a chronic multisystem disorder without any defined etiology. Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) is detected in 2-7% of patients with sarcoidosis and more than 20% of the cases of sarcoidosis are clinically silent. Cardiac involvement in systemic sarcoidosis (SS) and isolated cardiac sarcoidosis (iCS) are associated with arrhythmia and severe heart failure (HF) and have a poor prognosis. Early diagnosis of CS and prompt initiation of corticosteroid therapy with or without other immunosuppressants is crucial. Electrocardiography, Holter monitoring, and Doppler echocardiography with speckle tracking imaging can serve as the initial steps to diagnosis of CS. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) are promising techniques for both diagnosis and follow-up of CS. This review discusses the main aspects of cardiac involvement in sarcoidosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Erzurum Education and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey;
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ipek
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Erzurum Education and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey;
authors.forename: Selami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Demirelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Erzurum Education and Research Hospital, Erzurum, Turkey;
authors.forename: Emrah
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ermis
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Aksaray State Hospital, Aksaray, Turkey.
authors.forename: Sinan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Inci
keywords: Sarcoidosis; cardiac involvement; diagnosis; treatment