Clinical characteristics and prognosis of cardiac tamponade patients: 5­year experience at a tertiary center.

BACKGROUND: Cardiac tamponade (CT) is characterized by compression of the cardiac chambers due to pericardial fluid accumulation. The etiology and prognosis may vary in different regions, and thus patient series from various regions can be useful for exploring the etiological and prognostic disparities. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical characteristics of patients with imminent CT, to evaluate the diagnostic performance of biochemical, microbiologic, and pathologic laboratory analysis, and to ascertain the prognosis of CT patients. METHODS: We enrolled all patients with imminent CT who underwent percutaneous pericardiocentesis between July 2012 and December 2017 in this retrospective study. The patients were classified into three etiology groups: (a) malignancy (MRCT); (b) iatrogenic/mechanical complication of myocardial infarction (IMCT); and (c) other causes (OCT). Clinical information, laboratory findings, and survival data were recorded. RESULTS: In total, 186 pericardiocentesis procedures were performed on 153 consecutive patients with CT. The median follow-up was 137 days (range: 1-1937). The MRCT group had the highest mortality rate (79%) in 12 months, while the OCT group had the lowest rate (27%). We determined that increased age, higher serum urea levels, and malignancy-related CT were independent predictors of mortality. The mortality rates of the MRCT and IMCT groups were similar, with both of them being significantly higher than the rate of the OCT group. In all, 15 patients were diagnosed with a new malignancy via pericardial fluid cytology. CONCLUSION: Patients in the MRCT and IMCT groups had a poor prognosis. The presence of malignancy was found to be the most powerful predictor of mortality in CT patients.

Association of monocyte/HDL-C ratio with SYNTAX scores in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between monocyte count/high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio (MHR) and the severity of coronary atherosclerosis, as assessed by the SYNTAX score (SXscore), in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) undergoing coronary angiography. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 428 patients were included in the study between March 2012 and February 2015. The SXscore was determined with baseline coronary angiography. An SXscore ≥ 23 was regarded as severe CAD by definition, and the patients were divided into two groups: those with low SXscores (< 23) and those with high SXscores (≥ 23). RESULTS: MHR and C-reactive protein (CRP) were significantly higher in patients with high SXscores (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). Left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) was lower in the group with high MHR and high SXscores. The cutoff value of MHR that predicted a high SXscore was 24, with a sensitivity of 66 % and a specificity of 65.1 %. CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in the literature showing that MHR is significantly associated with SXscores. Our results suggest that MHR can be used as a prognostic marker in patients with stable CAD, since it is an easily available and inexpensive test.