title: Prevalence and clinical course of pleural effusions at 30 days after coronary artery and cardiac surgery.
abstract: The present prospective study was designed to determine the prevalence of pleural effusion at approximately 28 days after cardiac surgery and their subsequent course. This consecutive case study included 389 patients; 312 had only coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) surgery, 37 had both valve and CABG surgery, and 40 had only valve surgery. Chest radiographs were obtained approximately 28 days postoperatively. Patients were subsequently contacted by telephone 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively and questioned about the presence of fluid in their chest and related symptoms. The prevalence of pleural effusions in the patients undergoing only CABG surgery (63%) or CABG surgery plus valve surgery (62%) was significantly (p = 0.05) higher than that in the patients undergoing valve surgery only (45%). The prevalence of effusions occupying more than 25% of the hemithorax was 9.7%. The primary symptom associated with these larger effusions was dyspnea. Chest pain and fever were uncommon. Over the 12-month follow-up, the effusions tended to resolve. In conclusion, the prevalence of pleural effusions occupying more than 25% of the hemithorax is approximately 10%, 28 days postoperatively. These larger pleural effusions produce dyspnea but not chest pain or fever, and most of the effusions disappear gradually over the subsequent months.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Saint Thomas Hospital and Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. RLight98@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Light
authors.forename: Jeffrey T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.forename: J Phillip
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Moyers
authors.forename: Y C Gary
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R Michael
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: William C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Alford
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: George R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Burrus
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Coltharp
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Glassford
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Hoff
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lea
authors.forename: Jonathan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Nesbitt
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Petracek
authors.forename: Thomas D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Starkey
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Stoney
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tedder
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011184:Postoperative Period; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013714:Tennessee / Q000453:epidemiology