Abstract
We report an autopsy revealing the cause of sudden death to be cardiac sarcoidosis. A 45-year-old woman with a permanent pacemaker, which had been implanted for complete atrioventricular (AV) block, visited the clinic for pneumonia. After determining that she should be admitted, she collapsed. Although she was immediately treated with emergency resuscitation, she died 12 hours later. On autopsy her heart weighed 705 g and severe fibrotic lesions were observed in the left ventricular wall and septum. Microscopic analysis revealed nodules of a sarcoid granuloma in the heart, particularly in the ventricular septum. Moreover, sarcoid granulomas were found in the bilateral lymph nodes of the pulmonary hilum, lung, liver and spleen. Therefore, we determined that cardiac sarcoidosis caused sudden death due to arrhythmia from conduction disorder. This case suggests that sudden cardiac death in a young to middle-aged patient, especially in a woman, might be caused by cardiac sarcoidosis.
