There was no accepted standard of care for treating cardiac sarcoidosis. For a study, researchers evaluated 3 prednisone-tapering therapy plans for cardiac sarcoidosis for their efficacy.
Prednisone alone (P), prednisone plus methotrexate (P-M), and prednisone plus infliximab-containing regimens (P–I) for cardiac sarcoidosis were retrospectively examined. The ability to reduce the daily prednisone dose to 7.5 mg or less for six or more months without experiencing a negative cardiac event was how they determined the efficacy of each regimen. They also looked at the lowest effective daily dosage of prednisone that could be taken without having a negative cardiac event.
Thirty-three individuals with cardiac sarcoidosis were examined, and 61 treatment plans were found. Prednisone-tapering regimens had dramatically varying success rates. P: 8/30, 27%; P-M: 3/23, 13%; P–I: 6/8, 75%., P = 0.04. The regimens’ lowest effective daily dosage of prednisone differed substantially as well: P-I was the most successful regimen by both metrics P: 14.1 ± 10.1 mg; P-M: 16.9 ± 9.4 mg; infliximab: 7.8 ± 4.9 mg, (P = 0.03).
In terms of attaining 7.5 mg/day of prednisone for more than 6 months and obtaining the lowest effective prednisone, prednisone-tapering regimens comprising infliximab were superior to those containing prednisone alone or prednisone plus methotrexate for the treatment of cardiac sarcoidosis.
Reference: resmedjournal.com/article/S0954-6111(22)00269-4/fulltext
