Effect of early pericardial effusion on 12-month mortality in patients with acute ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction

Objective To investigate the incidence of early pericardial effusion (PE) in patients with acute ST-segment elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) who undergoing primary percutaneous coronary artery intervention (PPCI) and to explore the effect of early PE on 12-month mortality after PPCI. Methods This study is a retrospective study. A total of 678 consecutive STEMI patients who underwent PPCI were enrolled in this study from January 2012 to December 2014 in Wuhan Asia Heart Hospital. There were two groups of PE, namely the study group (PE>5.0 mm, 114 cases) and the control group (no PE, 564 cases). The baseline clinical data, angiographic features, data related to PPCI, the 12-month mortality were analyzed retrospectively. Results PE was detected in 114 patients (16.8%) by echocardiography during hospitalization. The incidence of moderate-to-severe PE (MPE) which was defined PE≥10 mm was 5.6%. Compared with control group, in-hospital mortality (7.0% vs. 2.1%, χ2=7.921, P=0.005) and 12-month mortality (28.9% vs. 10.5%, χ2=8.843, P=0.003) in study group was significantly higher. Moreover, the mortality in MPE group was significantly higher than the mild PE group whose PE 100 ng/ml, peak NT-proBNP >5 000 pg/ml and peak hs-CRP>100 mg/L were independent predictors for PE incidence (all P<0.05). Conclusions Early PE after STEMI is related to increased mortality at 12 months after PPCI. Key words: Myocardial infarction; Pericardial effusion; Echocardiography; Mortality