Clinical Characteristics of Patients With Constrictive Pericarditis After Coronary Bypass Surgery

Constrictive pericarditis (CP) is an unusual sequela of cardiac surgery, so the present study evaluated the clinical characteristics of patients with CP after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Four hundred and sixty-three patients who underwent isolated CABG between January 1989 and March 1999 were examined retrospectively. The first choice of treatment for postoperative pericardial effusion was non-steroid anti-inflammatory agents, and an increased dose of diuretics. The second treatment choice was corticosteroids or pericardial drainage. When CP was suspected during the follow-up period (mean, 54+/-31 months), cardiac catheterization was carried out to establish the diagnosis. Of the 463 patients undergoing CABG, there were 11 (2.4%) who developed CP after surgery. The median time to the onset of symptoms after CABG was 4 weeks (range, 3-96 weeks). On univariate and multivariate analysis, normal left ventricular ejection fraction, warfarin administration, and early postoperative pericardial effusion were significantly associated with a greater potential of postoperative CP. The effusion was bloody in all cases of pericardial drainage despite warfarin therapy. Not draining the postoperative effusive pericardial effusion was a risk factor for the development of CP. Pericardial drainage for patients with significant effusion after CABG is important for the prevention of subsequent CP, especially in those patients being treated with warfarin or with normal left ventricular function.