Patient characteristics
Epidemiological differences between individuals with CS were found to be significant determinants of appropriate therapy in some studies, most notably age and sex. Male sex was shown to be a predictor of appropriate therapy in research from Schuller et al. (72.2% vs. 51.5%, P = 0.025)(7), Kron et al. (73.8% vs. 59.6%, P = 0.0330)(14), and more recently from Mathijssen et al. (HR 2.33, P = 0.046)(10). Azoulay et al.’s meta-analysis also showed that male sex predicted appropriate therapy (OR 2.06, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.37-3.09, P = 0.0005), also finding young age to be a significant factor (-3.33, 95% CI -6.42 to -0.23, P = 0.004)(5). This finding was also significant in the Mohsen et al. study (47.4 vs. 56, P = 0.031), however only approached statistical significance in the aforementioned Schuller et al. and Kron et al. studies (P = 0.052 for both).
It is worth noting that the burden of CS differs between ethnic groups, with previous studies showing varied rates of cardiac sarcoid-related death between them(18–20). Many of the above studies do not include this dataset, and as such are unable to draw conclusions around the impact of appropriate therapies in differing populations.