Abstract
Abstract Background Sarcoidosis is an inflammatory disorder characterized by non–caseating granulomatous infiltration in multiple organs, including the heart. The presence of granulomas within the myocardium can cause heart failure, atrio–ventricular block, ventricular arrhythmias (VA) and sudden cardiac death (SCD). Due to the patchy pattern of sarcoid infiltration, endomyocardial biopsy has a poor sensitivity and cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) is becoming the gold standard imaging, detecting small area of myocardial fibrosis and scar using late gadolinium enhancement (LGE). The identification of LGE in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy is strongly associated with VA and SCD and similar findings were reported in cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) patients. Methods In order to assess the risk of VA and SCD related to LGE in the CS, we performed a meta–analysis including all the studies enrolling patients with suspected or confirmed CS undergoing CMR. We conducted a digital search in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar from inception through October 2021. Clinical outcomes of interest were arrhythmogenic events defined as VA (ventricular tachycardia or ventricular fibrillation), SCD or aborted SCD (appropriate ICD discharge) during follow–up. Results Eleven studies with a total of 1.123 CS patients (left ventricular ejection function [LVEF]: 59 ± 23%) with an appropriate follow–up were included in the final analysis. Overall, as depicted in the Figure 1, the identification of LGE at CMR was associated with a 13–fold increase risk in potentially lethal VA (R = 12.76, 95% CI [6.30–25.87]) than patients without LGE. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the presence of myocardial scarring as evidenced by the identification of LGE in CMR provides meaningful information about the arrhythmic risk stratification of CS patients.
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