Occurrence and predictors of pericardial effusion requiring invasive treatment following heart valve surgery

OBJECTIVES: To describe the occurrence of significant pericardial effusion, and to investigate characteristics associated with pericardial effusion within three months following heart valve surgery. METHODS: A retrospective, observational cohort study including adult patients undergoing heart valve surgery at Odense University Hospital from August 2013 to November 2017. Data were gathered from The Western Denmark Heart Registry and electronic patient records. Cox proportional hazard models were used to investigate the associations between characteristics associated with significant pericardial effusion during index admission and within 3 months. Results are presented as HR with 95% CI. RESULTS: In total, 1460 patients were included (70% men, median age 71 years (IQR 63–76)) and of those, n=230 patients (16%) developed significant pericardial effusion. EuroScore II was significantly associated with an increased risk of pericardial effusion during index admission and associated with a lower risk following discharge (index admission HR 1.05, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.08, after discharge HR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.92). Increasing age (HR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95 to 0.98 per year) and concomitant coronary artery bypass grafting versus isolated valve surgery (HR 0.58, 95% CI 0.35 to 0.97) were significantly associated with a reduced risk of pericardial effusions in both periods. Being a man (HR 2.30, 95% CI 1.32 to 4.01) and aortic valve disease versus mitral valve disease (HR 2.16, 95% CI 1.20 to 3.90) were significantly associated with an increased risk after discharge. CONCLUSION: Significant pericardial effusions requiring drainage were present in 16% of cases following heart valve surgery, and different clinical characteristics were associated with the development of effusion.