[Radionuclide assessment of cardiac involvement in patients with sarcoidosis]

This study was aimed to determine whether nuclear methods were useful for examining cardiac pathology and for making a decision of corticosteroid therapy in patients with sarcoidosis. Thirty six patients were divided into two groups; GpA consisted of 19 patients with cardiac sarcoidosis and abnormal ECG findings, and GpB of 17 patients with sarcoidosis without ECG abnormalities. Cardiac uptake of 67Ga-citrate in 2 and 99mTc-PYP in one of GpA was observed and steroid therapy resulted in the disappearance of the uptake. 201Tl-CL cardiac tomograms disclosed perfusion defects in 10 of 14 patients (71%) in GpA, including defects with redistribution in 8 of the 10 pts, but only one case in GpB. Radionuclide ventriculography using 99mTc-RBC revealed abnormal response of left ventricular (LV) function to exercise and LV dysfunction in GpA. These data suggest that nuclear study is a useful tool for diagnosing cardiac sarcoidosis, evaluating therapeutic effectiveness and long-term follow-up in patients with sarcoidosis.