[Beneficial biventricular pacing in a patient with cardiac sarcoidosis and refractory heart failure: a case report].

A 54-year-old woman had been treated under a diagnosis of cardiac sarcoidosis since 1998. She was admitted to our department because of recurrent heart failure in April 2002. A DDD pacemaker was implanted because of complete AV block in 2000, but she had always suffered from > or = New York Heart Association (NYHA) class III heart failure. To prevent recurrent heart failure, biventricular pacing was performed. The left ventricular epicardial pacing lead was newly inserted into the great cardiac vein via the left subclavian vein, and connected with the previously implanted generator. The QRS duration decreased from 200 to 140 msec. Serum brian natriuretic peptide level decreased from 321 to 226 pg/ml. Cardiac index increased from 1.93 to 2.20. Her functional class improved from NYHA class III to class II.