Association between sarcoidosis and cardiovascular comorbidity: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Sarcoidosis with cardiovascular involvement is critical and is associated with morbidity and mortality of the affected patients, if not properly managed. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we aimed to review the available literature to find the prevalence of cardiovascular comorbidities and their association with sarcoidosis. Methods: An electronic search was conducted through nine databases for articles reporting cardiovascular comorbidities in sarcoidosis patients. We assessed the quality of each included article using the National Institute of Health quality assessment tool (NIH), while meta-analysis was used to pool the results. Results: Out of 2208 reports screened, we included 14 studies. The most common cardiovascular comorbidities were hypertension 28.8%, heart failure 9.3% and non-specified arrhythmia 8.1%. There were significant association between sarcoidosis and heart failure and hypertension rather than controls (OR = 2.10, 95%CI (1.65 - 2.69), p < 0.01) and (OR = 1.27, 95%CI (1.02 - 1.59), p = 0.036), respectively. However, we found no association between sarcoidosis and cerebrovascular disease, ischemic heart disease and ventricular tachycardia (p > 0.05). Conclusion: Sarcoidosis is associated with certain types of cardiovascular comorbidities. Timely diagnosis and aggressive management in this population are needed to minimize the hazards associated with the disease. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.