PET/CT Imaging in Cardiac Sarcoidosis

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a systemic granulomatous disease of unknown cause. The most commonly affected structures are the thoracic lymph nodes and the lungs, but any organ can be involved . In sarcoidosis, the heart can be affected both due to lung involvement and direct disease involvement. Clinically detected cardiac involvement is around 5%; However higher rates are reported in autopsy series. Endomyocardial biopsy, which is the definitive diagnostic method, is difficult and has low diagnostic value. Effective and reliable advanced cardiac imaging methods are needed in cardiac sarcoidosis . As well as the diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis, it is also important to determine disease activation, determine the treatment strategy, evaluate the severity, estimate the prognosis, and adjust steroid therapy . The most commonly used molecular imaging method in clinical practice for these purposes is Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT imaging labeled with Fluorine-18 (F-18). Increased uptake in the myocardium on F-18 FDG PET/CT imaging is considered an important finding reflecting the activity of inflammation in cardiac sarcoidosis. In this report, two patients whose sarcoidosis diagnosis was confirmed histopathologically and who underwent PET CT examination due to cardiac sarcoidosis in our department are presented.

Keywords

• cardiac sarkoidosis
• PET
• CT
• Imaging

References

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