se of MRI for early detection of cardiac involvement in patients with sarcoidosis. - Use of MRI for early detection of cardiac involvement in patients with sarcoidosis.

Methods: Sixty one consecutive patients who met the histological and clinical criteria for sarcoidosis, and who did not have signs or symptoms of cardiovascular involvement were prospectively recruited. LGE CMR was performed at the time of enrollment and patients were classified into positive or negative LGE groups based on the findings. The study endpoint was a composite of all cause death, symptomatic arrhythmia, and heart failure necessitating admission. Results: Patients were predominantly middle aged (57 plusminus 15 years), female (66%), and most had stable disease activity that did not require treatment with immunosuppressants. LGE-CMR detected cardiac involvement in 8 patients (13%). Interventricular septal (IVS) thinning detected by echocardiography was an independent predictor of LGE-CMR-detected cardiac involvement. During the follow-up period of 50 plusmminus 12 months, no significant difference in adverse events was noted between patients in the LGE CMR positive and negative groups. Conclusions: In sarcoidosis patients without cardiac manifestation, LGE CMR detected cardiac involvement in 13% of patients, but both patients with and without LGE had relatively low event rates.