title: Pericarditis in acute myocardial infarction: characterization and clinical significance.
abstract: To determine the significance of pericarditis following acute myocardial infarction, the hospital course and 12-month follow-up were analyzed in 703 patients enrolled in the Multicenter Investigation of the Limitation of Infarct Size (MILIS). Pericarditis, defined by the detection of a pericardial rub, occurred in 20% of the patients (n = 141) and was more likely to follow Q wave than non-Q wave infarction (25% vs 9%, p less than 0.001). Patients with pericarditis experienced more serious myocardial damage compared to those without pericarditis, as evidenced by a larger infarct size (25 +/- 1 vs 17 +/- 1 MB-CK gm-Eq/m2, p less than 0.001), a lower admission left ventricular ejection fraction (42 +/- 1% vs 48 +/- 1%, p less than 0.001), and a higher incidence of congestive heart failure (47% vs 26%, p less than 0.001) and atrial tachyarrhythmias (16% vs 10%, p less than 0.05). When patients were classified by the presence of Q or non-Q wave infarction, these differences persisted although statistical significance was not always achieved due to smaller sample size. Mortality at 12-month follow-up for patients with pericarditis was 18% compared with 12% for patients without pericarditis (p = 0.055). This mortality difference could be accounted for in part by the lower ventricular ejection fraction in patients with pericarditis (p = 0.20 after adjustment).
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: G H
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Tofler
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Muller
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Willich
authors.forename: V G
authors.initials: VG
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Poole
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Braunwald
mesh_terms: D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D010493:Pericarditis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013318:Stroke Volume