Figure legends
Figure 1. Differences between group 1 and group 2. (A) Timing the initiation of the corticosteroids and maintenance dose in patients with CS. Each blue dot indicates the time from the initiation of corticosteroids and the maintenance dose in each patient. (B) Comparison of the increased FDG uptake in the heart detected by the PET/CT scan between groups 1 and 2 at the time of the CRT upgrade. (C) Defect area on the myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (99mTc-tetrofosmin) between the two groups at the time of the CRT upgrade. CS = cardiac sarcoidosis, CRT = cardiac resynchronization therapy. FDG = fluorodeoxyglucose, PET/CT = positron emission tomography/computed tomography, Positive = increased FDG uptake in myocardium on PET/CT, Negative = not increased FDG uptake in myocardium on PET/CT.
Septum = septum of left ventricle, Lateral = lateral wall of the left ventricle, Inferior =, inferior wall of the left ventricle, Anterior = anterior wall of left ventricle.
Figure 2. The comparison of the echocardiographic response among the CS patients taking corticosteroids before the CRT upgrade (group 1), CS patients not taking corticosteroids before the CRT upgrade (group 2), and non-CS patients (group 3).
CS = cardiac sarcoidosis, LVEF = left ventricular ejection fraction, LVESV = left ventricular end-systolic volume.
Figure 3. The change in the LVESV and LVEF before and after the CRT upgrade in each group (CS patients taking corticosteroids before the CRT upgrade [group 1], CS patients not taking corticosteroids before CRT upgrade [group 1] and non-CS patients [group 3]).
LVEF = left ventricular ejection fraction, LVESV = left ventricular end-systolic volume, pre = before the CRT upgrade, post = six months after the CRT upgrade.
Figure 4. Kaplan-Meier curve demonstrating the freedom from (A) the composite endpoint of cardiovascular death and hospitalizations for worsening heart failure and (B) cardiovascular death after a CRT upgrade among the CS patients taking corticosteroids before the CRT upgrade (group 1), CS patients not taking corticosteroid before the CRT upgrade (group 1), and non-CS patients (group 3).
CS = cardiac sarcoidosis, CRT = cardiac resynchronization therapy.