Prognostic Value of Myocardial Damage in Patients With Sarcoidosis

Sarcoidosis is a granulomatous disease of unknown pathogenesis that can affect virtually any organ system. Cardiac involvement results in significant morbidity and mortality, with some studies reporting that cardiac involvement accounts for up to 25% of all deaths from sarcoidosis in the United States and more than half of all deaths in Japan. Many deaths seem to be arrhythmic in nature and are potentially preventable. For example, recent studies in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator show high rates of appropriate implantable cardioverter-defibrillator discharges (≈10%–15% per year for primary prevention patients), which are more than double that reported in large randomized trials of heart failure patients.