Several retrospective studies from across North America, India and Japan sought to investigate an association between appropriate therapy and patient characteristics in those with CS(12,7,13,14,11,15,16). Many of these single-centre studies were pulled together in a meta-analysis by Azoulay et al(5), showing that of the 464 participants, 39% of CS patients received appropriate therapy – a value significantly higher when compared to other studies focusing on non-sarcoid related heart disease, and a similar value to that of a recent UK-based single-centre study where they showed rates of appropriate therapy were 32.7%.(17)
Variables that were identified in this study, alongside other presently discussed studies, fit into three broad categories which will be discussed in greater detail below: