What question did this study set out to answer?

To establish the underlying causes of pericardial effusion using a systematic noninvasive diagnostic testing strategy in comparison to healthy controls.

November 1, 2003Medicine

Etiologic Diagnosis of 204 Pericardial Effusions

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Why the study?

Does systematic noninvasive diagnostic testing improve the etiologic diagnosis rate in patients with pericardial effusion?

Population

204 patients with echographically identified pericardial effusion evaluated between May 1998 and December…

Comparison

Systematic noninvasive diagnostic testing of… vs Randomly selected blood donors used as negative…

Design

Cohort

Authors

PLPierre‐Yves LevyMéditerranée Infection Foundation RCRalf Corey PBPierre BergerHomerton University Hospital

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Systematic testing may increase etiologic diagnoses in pericardial effusion; leaves open impact on outcomes and need for routine adoption.

Key Points

To establish the underlying causes of pericardial effusion using a systematic noninvasive diagnostic testing strategy in comparison to healthy controls.
Evaluated patients with echographically confirmed pericardial effusion (N=204) between May 1998 and December 2002, excluding postpericardiotomy syndrome.
Performed noninvasive testing on blood, throat, and stool samples alongside invasive pericardial fluid analysis when indicated, using healthy blood donors as negative controls.
A definitive etiologic diagnosis was established in 107 of 204 patients (52.4%), with 52 suspected at baseline and 11 diagnosed via pericardial fluid analysis.
Systematic noninvasive testing identified a specific cause in 44 of 141 patients (32.1%) initially labeled as idiopathic, led by abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (n=15), Coxiella burnetii (n=10), and enterovirus (n=8).

Structured PICO

Does systematic noninvasive diagnostic testing improve the etiologic diagnosis rate in patients with pericardial effusion?

Population

204 patients with echographically identified pericardial effusion (excluding postpericardiotomy syndrome) evaluated between May 1998 and December 2002, along with randomly selected blood donors as negative controls.

Intervention

Systematic noninvasive diagnostic testing of blood, throat, and stool samples (including serologic evaluation, viral culture, antinuclear antibodies, and thyroid-stimulating hormone).

Comparator

Randomly selected blood donors used as negative controls to analyze the value of the tests.

Outcome

Establishment of a final etiologic diagnosis for the pericardial effusion.

A systematic noninvasive testing strategy significantly reduces the proportion of pericardial effusions classified as idiopathic by identifying previously unsuspected infectious, autoimmune, and thyroid abnormalities.

Cite This Study

Levy et al. (2003) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a759ae43e2789f4c2600102 https://doi.org/10.1097/01.md.0000101574.54295.73

Topics

Pericardial disease

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Implication

Systematic testing may increase etiologic diagnoses in pericardial effusion; leaves open impact on outcomes and need for routine adoption.

Etiologic Diagnosis of 204 Pericardial Effusions

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Structured PICO

Cite This Study

Topics

Etiologic Diagnosis of 204 Pericardial Effusions

Discussion

Member takes

Implication

Key Points

Structured PICO

Cite This Study

Also Consider

Topics

Also Consider