Clinical & Experimental Cardiology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9880
ISSN: 2155-9880
S Adusumalli and S McKenzie
The Prince Charles Hospital, Australia
University of Queensland, Australia
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Clin Exp Cardiolog
Retrospective analysis was performed on patients who presented to Advance Heart Failure and Cardiac Transplant Unit at The Prince Charles Hospital during 2015-16. 68 patients were identified with a diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis. 57 patients met the Japanese Ministry Guidelines. Out of the 50 patients who underwent 18FDG Positron Emission Tomography (18FDG-PET), 23 patients had evidence of increased FDG uptake consistent with active cardiac sarcoidosis (sensitivity 53%, specificity-100%). 13 patients had follow up 18FDG-PET imaging, and all showed improvement in scan appearance post treatment with corticosteroids. 15 patients had a 18FDG-PET scan, were treated with steroids, and had follow up echocardiography. There was a non-significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) following treatment with corticosteroids (42.6 to 44.4%, p 0.24). Presence of atrioventricular conduction delay (p-0.01, odds ratio (OR) 6.33, 95% CI 1.4 to 27.7) and LVEF <50% (p-0.01, OR 6.06 95% CI 1.4 to 24) are found to be strong predictors of abnormal FDG uptake on PET scan. Of the study population, 48 patients had cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI) and 31 showed evidence of late gadolinium enhancement (LGE); (Sensitivity-67%, Specificity-50%). Our study reinforces the promising potential of 18FDG-PET in diagnosing and managing patients with cardiac sarcoidosis. Corticosteroids improved 18FDG-PET appearance and it coincided with improvement in LVEF. Larger, more rigorous studies are warranted to assess the role of 18FDG-PET in guiding the treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis.
Email: srikanthadusumalli@gmail.com