Feasibility and Accuracy of Hybrid Magnetic Resonance and Positron Emission Tomography With 18F-Fluorodeoxyglucose in Diagnosing Cardiac Sarcoidosis

Patients who meet the inclusion criteria and agree to the study will be recruited from the Kirklin Clinic and UAB hospitals who will be undergoing FDG-PET/CT for cardiac study as part of their standard of care to diagnose cardiac sarcoidosis. MRI and FDG-PET screening questionnaire will be completed. A chart review will be completed to obtain data from patient medical records pertaining to study including age, gender, race, weight, height, vital signs, social and family history, past medical history especially if there is any history of hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol levels, heart failure or history of lung diseases, lab results including brain natriuretic peptide levels, creatinine, hemoglobin, coagulation parameters, results of stress test/left heart catheterization, prior echocardiography if available. The CMR will be done solely for research purposes. The patient will be in the PET/MRI scanner for cardiac study only for 60-90 minutes, Finally, multi-sequence, multi-planar cardiac MR images will be acquired to assess cardiac chamber size, regional wall motion abnormalities, ejection fraction, left ventricular perfusion(using gadolinium-based agent) and late gadolinium enhancement.

The investigators will also conduct MRI examinations on 5 healthy volunteers to establish cardiac MRI protocol for the PET/MRI scanner. These scans will not involve any FDG administration to the healthy volunteers. These will involve cardiac MRI examinations to determine the feasibility and quality of MRI scans with the new scanner.