Inpatient mortality and its predictors after pericardiocentesis: An analysis from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample 2009–2013

Background National registries have provided data on in‐hospital outcomes for several cardiac procedures. The available data on in‐hospital outcomes and its predictors after pericardiocentesis are mostly derived from single center studies. Furthermore, the outcomes after pericardiocentesis for iatrogenic pericardial effusion and the impact of procedural volume on in‐hospital outcomes in the United States are largely unknown. Methods We used national inpatient database files for the years 2009–2013 to estimate the inpatient outcomes after pericardiocentesis in all‐comers and in the subgroups with iatrogenic effusion. We also studied the impact of hospital procedural volume, among other predictors, on inpatient mortality. Results About 64,070 (95%CI 61 008‐67 051) pericardiocentesis were performed in the United States during 2009‐2013. Of these, 57.15% (56.02‐58.26%) of the pericardiocentesis were in hemodynamically unstable patients. Percutaneous cardiac procedures were performed in 17.7% of patients (percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) 4.02%, electrophysiologic procedures 13.58%, and structural heart intervention (SHI) 0.76%). Overall inpatient mortality was 12.30% (95%CI 11.66‐12.96%). Inpatient mortality after PCI, electrophysiologic procedures, SHI and cardiac surgery were 27.67% (95%CI 24‐31.67%), 7.8% (95%CI 6.67‐9.31%), 22.36% (95%CI 15.06‐31.85%) and 18.97% (95%CI 15.84‐22.57%), respectively. There was an inverse association between hospital procedural volume and inpatient mortality, with a mortality of 14.01% (12.84‐15.26%) at the lowest and 10.82% (9.44‐12.37%) at highest quartile hospitals by procedure volume (ptrend = 0.001). Conclusion The inpatient mortality after pericardiocentesis is high, particularly when associated with PCI and SHI.