Incidence and predictors of pericardial effusion following surgical closure of atrial septal defect in children: A single center experience

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the incidence of pericardial effusion (PE) after surgical atrial septal defect (ASD) closure and to investigate the presence of predictive risk factors for its development. METHODS: We collected data from 203 patients followed at Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital of Rome who underwent cardiac surgery for ASD repair between January 2015 and September 2019. RESULTS: A total of 200/203 patients with different types of ASD were included. Patients were divided into two groups: Group 1) 38 (19%) who developed PE and Group 2) 162 (81%) without PE. No differences were noted between the two groups with regard to gender or age at the surgery. Fever in the 48 h after surgery was significantly more frequent in group 1 than in group 2 (23.7 vs. 2.5%; p < 0.0001). ECG at discharge showed significant ST-segment elevation in children who developed PE, 24.3 vs. 2.0% in those who did not (p < 0.0001). Group 1 patients were divided into two subgroups on the basis of the severity of PE, namely, 31 (81.6%) with mild and 7 (18.4%) with moderate/severe PE. Patients with moderate/severe PE had a significantly higher BMI value (median 19.1 Kg/m(2)) (range 15.9–23.4, p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The presence of fever and ST-segment elevation after surgery predicts subsequent development of PE suggesting a closer follow-up for these categories of patients. A higher BMI appears to be associated with a higher risk of moderate/severe PE.