Do thallium myocardial perfusion scan abnormalities predict survival in sarcoid patients without cardiac symptoms

Journal Article · Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Angiology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/000331979004100711· OSTI ID:6793084

Kinney, E L; Caldwell, J W ^[1]

---

1. Reed Institute, Miami, FL (USA)

Whereas the total mortality rate for sarcoidosis is 0.2 per 100,000, the prognosis, when the heart is involved, is very much worse. The authors used the difference in mortality rate to infer whether thallium 201 myocardial perfusion scan abnormalities correspond to myocardial sarcoid by making the simplifying assumption that if they do, then patients with abnormal scans will be found to have a death rate similar to patients with sarcoid heart disease. The authors therefore analyzed complete survival data on 52 sarcoid patients without cardiac symptoms an average of eighty-nine months after they had been scanned as part of a protocol. By use of survival analysis (the Cox proportional hazards model), the only variable that was significantly associated with survival was age. The patients' scan pattern, treatment status, gender, and race were not significantly related to survival. The authors conclude that thallium myocardial perfusion scans cannot reliably be used to diagnose sarcoid heart disease in sarcoid patients without cardiac symptoms.

• OSTI ID: 6793084
• Journal Information: Angiology; (USA), Vol. 41:7; ISSN 0003-3197
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES
DIAGNOSIS
HEART
RADIOISOTOPE SCANNING
AGE DEPENDENCE
PATIENTS
PERFUSED TISSUES
SURVIVAL CURVES
THALLIUM 201
ANIMAL TISSUES
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DISEASES
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
HEAVY NUCLEI
ISOMERIC TRANSITION ISOTOPES
ISOTOPES
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
ORGANS
RADIOISOTOPES
SECONDS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
THALLIUM ISOTOPES
TISSUES
550601* - Medicine- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics