Evaluation of Index of Cardiac-Electrophysiological Balance and Electrocardiographic Alternations in Patients with Sarcoidosis

Objective: Cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) can manifest with different clinical signs and has a poor prognosis, but the heart is rarely affected alone. We aim to evaluate the arrhythmogenic effects of sarcoidosis by using electrocardiography (ECG) in patients with or without cardiac involvement. Materials and Methods: A total of 61 patients under follow-up for pulmonary sarcoidosis were retrospectively reviewed and 50 healthy volunteers were enrolled in the study. Sarcoidosis patients were also grouped as with or without cardiac involvement (n=11/ n=35). QRS, QT, Tp-e, P wave morphology were measured manually. Then, Tp-e/QT, Tp-e/QTc, QT/QRS (index of cardiac electrophysiological balance), and QTc/QRS ratios were calculated and compared between groups. Results: Heart rate on ECG, QT/QTc interval, Tp-e intervals and Tp-e/QT ratio and PWD were significantly higher (p values < 0.018) and iCEB or iCEBc values, obtained with the QT/QRS ratio, were lower in the sarcoidosis group (p = 0.001). And we could not find a relationship between non-cardiac and CS and ECG parameters including QTc, Tp-e/QT ratio and iCEB (p= 0.501, p= 0.753 and p=0.490, respectively). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated a lower iCEB value and higher repolarization findings in sarcoidosis patient. However, there are no differences between with or without cardiac involvement.