Abstract

The aim of our study was to define predictors of cardiac compression development including clinical, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic, chest-X-ray and perioperative parameters and their diagnostic value. Overall 243 patients with pericardial disease, among them 123 with compression (tamponade, constriction) and 120 without signs of compression were included in the study. Clinical, laboratory, electrocardiographic, chest-X-Ray, echocardiographic and perioperative data were included in the logistic regression analysis to define predictors of tamponade/constriction development. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated large effusion (> 20 mm) (OR 5.393, 95%CI 1.202–24.199, p = 0.028), cardiac chamber collapse (OR 31.426, 95%CI 1.609–613-914, p = 0.023) and NYHA class > 3 (OR 8.671, 95%CI 1.730–43.451, p = 0.009) were multivariable predictors of compression development. The model including these three variables allowed predicting compression in 91.7% of cases. ROC analyses demonstrated that all three variables had significant diagnostic value with sensitivity of 75.6% and specificity of 74.2% for large effusion, low sensitivity and high specificity for cardiac chamber collapse (35% and 92%) and NYHA class (32.5% and 94.2%). The independent predictors of compression development are presence of large effusion > 20 mm, cardiac chamber collapse and high NYHA class. The model including all three parameters allows correctly predicting compression in 91.4% of cases. The diagnostic accuracy of each parameter is characterized by high sensitivity and specificity of large effusion, high specificity of cardiac chamber collapse and NYHA class.