Arrhythmias in cardiac sarcoidosis

Contact address: Alexandru B. Chicos, MD Associate Professor, Cardiac Electrophysiology, Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA. E-mail: achicos@nm.org 1 Department of Cardiac Electrophysiology, Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, USA. sis was 1.3% for women and almost 1% for men. However, the disease is encountered worldwide and is probably more prevalent than thought, including in Central and Eastern Europe. Deubelbeiss et al4 found a prevalence of sarcoidosis in Switzerland that was higher than assumed based on previous international estimates. The prevalence of lifetime and currently active sarcoidosis were 121 and 44 per 100.000 inhabitants, respectively. The mean annual incidence of sarcoidosis was 7/100.000. An Italian study5 found a prevalence of sarcoidosis estimated at 48/100,000 in the Parma region for the years 2010-2013, much higher than previously thought, and as high as 196/100,000 in some areas. A study6 in Columbus, Ohio, found an unexpectedly high prevalence, at least 50/100,000 and possibly as high as 200/100.000, in population that was predominantly Causian (White, 74%). In the Romanian Registry for Interstitial Lung Diseases (REGIS)1,2, 144 patients were enrolled over 3 years, of which 28 were diagnosed with sarcoidosis, most with mediastinal and/ or pulmonary involvement. Authors concluded that, in Romania, interstitial lung diseases, including sarcoidosis, are under-diagnosed and under-reported, and that diagnosis is often made in advanced stages of disease despite availability of diagnostic tools, such as bronchoalveolar lavage and biopsy, in dedicated centers.