Baseline characteristics, management and long-term outcomes of different etiologies of cardiac tamponade evaluated in a cohort of 340 patients

INTRODUCTION: Studies on the etiology of cardiac tamponade (CT) are scarce or lacking follow-up, and usually include small or highly selected groups of patients. AIM: To evaluate the various etiologies and outcomes of CT in a cohort of patients treated in a tertiary care hospital encompassing cardiology, cardiac surgery and intensive care units. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed all adult patients hospitalized in the Silesian Centre for Heart Diseases in Zabrze (Poland) between January 2008 and December 2018, who required therapeutic pericardiocentesis or pericardiotomy due to CT. All various etiologies of CT were presented and assigned to the main etiology groups. For each group basic characteristics, in-hospital management, in-hospital and up to 2-year mortality were analyzed. RESULT: Among 340 patients with CT, 56% were men. The leading etiology groups included patients after invasive cardiac procedures, patients following postpericardiotomy (PCT) syndrome and the patients with neoplasm. Patients with end stage renal failure, PCT and iatrogenic CTs were the most disease burdened groups. The highest need for advanced therapy and in-hospital mortality were observed for the acute myocardial infarction group, in contrast to PCT. CONCLUSIONS: Within our cohort of patients, the invasive cardiac procedures overtake neoplastic causation of cardiac tamponade. The worst in-hospital prognosis was noted for CT following acute myocardial infarction and both iatrogenic invasive cardiac and cardiac surgery procedures. The highest long-term mortality was recorded for patients with end stage renal failure and the neoplastic group.