Abstract
To identify the incidence of pericardial effusion in patients after cardiac surgery using a hand-carried cardiac ultrasound device, 200 patients were assessed on postoperative day 3. If a pericardial effusion was found, patients were monitored for 3 consecutive days with a hand-carried cardiac ultrasound device. Within 72 hours after surgery, 43 patients (21.5%) had developed an effusion, of whom 2 patients had cardiac tamponade and 41 patients (21%) had a small pericardial effusion. No difference was found in the incidence of effusion based on the type of cardiac surgery. Of patients with a small pericardial effusion on day 3 after surgery, an additional 2 of 41 (5%) developed cardiac tamponade.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 406-407 |
Number of pages | 2 |
Journal | American Journal of Cardiology |
Volume | 94 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1 2004 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine