Cardiac Sarcoidosis: Diagnosis

Diagnosing cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) can be very challenging. There are no widely accepted guidelines for either screening or diagnosing CS. Moreover, the current available diagnostic tests are variable in their ability to detect CS. Because of its devastating nature, most patients with other forms sarcoidosis are screened for CS.

Initial cardiac evaluation may include an EKG, a signal averaged EKG and an echocardiogram. Additional imaging tests may include single positron emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET) and cardiac MRI. A heart biopsy is the most definitive diagnostic test, but is accurate in only 63 percent of cases.