Prevalence and clinical course of pleural effusions at 30 days after coronary artery and cardiac surgery.

Autor: Light RW; Department of Medicine, Saint Thomas Hospital and Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. RLight98@yahoo.com, Rogers JT, Moyers JP, Lee YC, Rodriguez RM, Alford WC Jr, Ball SK, Burrus GR, Coltharp WH, Glassford DM Jr, Hoff SJ, Lea JW 4th, Nesbitt JC, Petracek MR, Starkey TD, Stoney WS, Tedder M
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine [Am J Respir Crit Care Med] 2002 Dec 15; Vol. 166 (12 Pt 1), pp. 1567-71. Date of Electronic Publication: 2002 Oct 11.
DOI: 10.1164/rccm.200203-184OC
Abstrakt: The present prospective study was designed to determine the prevalence of pleural effusion at approximately 28 days after cardiac surgery and their subsequent course. This consecutive case study included 389 patients; 312 had only coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) surgery, 37 had both valve and CABG surgery, and 40 had only valve surgery. Chest radiographs were obtained approximately 28 days postoperatively. Patients were subsequently contacted by telephone 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively and questioned about the presence of fluid in their chest and related symptoms. The prevalence of pleural effusions in the patients undergoing only CABG surgery (63%) or CABG surgery plus valve surgery (62%) was significantly (p = 0.05) higher than that in the patients undergoing valve surgery only (45%). The prevalence of effusions occupying more than 25% of the hemithorax was 9.7%. The primary symptom associated with these larger effusions was dyspnea. Chest pain and fever were uncommon. Over the 12-month follow-up, the effusions tended to resolve. In conclusion, the prevalence of pleural effusions occupying more than 25% of the hemithorax is approximately 10%, 28 days postoperatively. These larger pleural effusions produce dyspnea but not chest pain or fever, and most of the effusions disappear gradually over the subsequent months.
Databáze: MEDLINE