Cardiac sarcoidosis — When to Suspect and How to Diagnose

Guest: Omar F. Abou Ezzeddine, M.D., C.M., M.S. (@abouezzeddine)

Host: Paul A. Friedman, M.D. (@DrPaulFriedman)

Cardiac sarcoidosis is difficult to diagnose. It may present with no symptoms and a coincidental ECG finding or with symptoms that are common to most people, such as fatigue and occasional palpitations. Patients may present with minimal clinical cardiac symptoms. Multimodality imaging, in conjunction with clinical history, is required for diagnosis; other, more common diseases should be ruled out before diagnosing cardiac sarcoidosis.

Joining us today to discuss cardiac sarcoidosis is Omar F. Abou Ezzeddine, M.D., C.M., M.S., director of the Cardiac Sarcoidosis Clinic at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and a cardiologist with expertise in nuclear imaging.

Specific topics discussed:

• Sarcoidosis and cardiac sarcoid defined
• When to suspect sarcoidosis
• Symptoms and the diagnostic cascade for sarcoid
• FDG-PET, MRI and hybrid PET-MRI
• Treatment options

Connect with Mayo Clinic's Cardiovascular Continuing Medical Education online at https://cveducation.mayo.edu or on Twitter @MayoClinicCV.

No CME credit offered for this episode.

Podcast transcript can be found here.