Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) can be silent in most patients with extrapulmonary sarcoidosis. Atrioventricular (AV) block is the most common clinical presentation, but it can also present as fatal ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Endomyocardial biopsy is the gold standard; however, it is not sensitive since CS can involve the myocardium in a patchy distribution. Our case depicts a female who presented with syncope; however, her hospital course was complicated by multiple cardiac arrests. Her initial laboratory tests, including an autoimmune workup, were unremarkable. Cardiac magnetic resonance and fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging revealed intramyocardial delayed enhancement of the basal anteroseptal (non-ischemic distribution) and patchy foci of increased uptake in the anteroseptal and inferior myocardial region, respectively. The patient was started on intravenous methylprednisolone, and her condition slowly improved. Post-discharge, the patient followed in the outpatient clinic with a repeat FDG-PET scan revealing resolution of myocardial FDG uptake. She also underwent bronchoscopy with lymph node biopsy showing granulomas and endobronchial biopsy confirming pulmonary sarcoidosis.
Keywords: atrioventricular block; cardiac arrest; cardiac sarcoidosis; fdg-pet scan; pulmonary sarcoid.
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