Exploring Occupational, Recreational, and Environmental Associations in Patients With Clinically Manifest Cardiac Sarcoidosis

Background: Sarcoidosis is a condition of unknown etiology. A number of occupational, recreational, and environmental exposures have been associated with the development of extra-cardiac sarcoidosis. Patients with clinically manifest cardiac sarcoidosis (CS) have a distinct clinical phenotype. We sought to explore the exposures associated with clinically manifest CS.

Methods: Two groups of patients were recruited in a prospective registry: cases (patients with clinically manifest CS) and controls (patients without sarcoidosis and who had similar cardiac presentations to cases). A validated survey, previously used in other sarcoidosis phenotypes, was sent to all patients.

Results: A total of 113 patients met the inclusion criteria and were sent the survey, of whom 79 of 113 (69.9%) completed the survey. We found 3 environmental associations. First, we found a negative association of CS with smoking, with 8 of 43 (18.6%) CS patients being current or ex-smokers compared to 17 of 36 (47.2%) of the controls. Second, we found a positive association with mold exposure, with 21 of 43 (48.8%) CS patients having a prior history of mold exposure compared to 9 of 36 (25.0%) of the controls. After multivariable analysis, there remained significant associations between CS and smoking (odds ratio 0.14 [95% confidence interval 0.04-0.51],  = 0.002) and mold exposure (odds ratio 5.69 [95% confidence interval 1.68-19.25],  = 0.005). Finally, patients with CS and self-reported acne had a significantly longer duration of active acne (7.82 ± 3.97 years) than did control patients 2.67 ± 1.03 years ( = 0.006).

Conclusions: We found a negative association between smoking history and the diagnosis of CS. We also found a significant 5-fold increase in mold exposure and a positive association with duration of acne in patients with CS compared to controls.