title: Incidence and significance of pericardial effusion in acute myocardial infarction as determined by two-dimensional echocardiography.
abstract: To determine the incidence and clinical significance of pericardial effusion after acute myocardial infarction, two-dimensional echocardiography was serially performed in 66 consecutive patients. Pericardial effusion was observed in 17 (26%); the effusion was small in 13 patients, moderate in 3 and large with signs of cardiac tamponade in 1. In this patient, two-dimensional echocardiography strongly suggested myocardial rupture. The observation of pericardial effusion was not associated with age, sex, previous myocardial infarction, atrial fibrillation or treatment with heparin. It was more often a complication of anterior than of inferior acute infarction. Patients with pericardial effusion had higher peak levels of creatine kinase and lactic dehydrogenase and a higher wall motion score index. More patients with pericardial effusion had congestive heart failure or ventricular arrhythmias, developed a ventricular aneurysm or died within 1 year after their infarction. In conclusion, pericardial effusion is frequently visualized by two-dimensional echocardiography after acute myocardial infarction and its presence is associated with an increased occurrence of complications and cardiac death.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006322:Heart Aneurysm / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000401:mortality; D010490:Pericardial Effusion / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology