Echo-Guided Pericardiocentesis Using a Central Venous Catheter: Classical Intermittent Versus Continuous Pericardial Drainage

Abstract

Background: Cardiac tamponade is a life-threatening condition that requires timely diagnosis and management.

Objective: To identify the difference in mortality for classic intermittent pericardial drainage and continuous drainage using a Jackson-Pratt drainage system of echo-guided pericardiocentesis using a central venous catheter (CVC).

Materials and Methods: An analytic cohort study included all patients who were hospitalized due to a principal diagnosis of cardiac tamponade and underwent echo-guided pericardiocentesis using the CVC from October 1 to September 30, 2023. The differences in mortality between groups were tested using a log-rank test and prognostic predictors for mortality were analyzed using Cox proportional hazards regression.

Results: Of the 32 patients (71.9% male, median age 66 years) were enrolled. The in-hospital mortality in the intermittent group compared to the continuous group was 46.7% and 11.8% (HR = 4.785, 95%C l= 0.992-23.075, p = 0.051), and the median event-free survival was 16.8 and 19.9 days (log-rank p = 0.028). The 1-year recurrence in the intermittent group compared to the continuous group was 62.5% and 13.3% (HR = 4.783, 95%Cl = 0.919-24.890, p = 0.063), and the median recurrence-free survival was 102.7 and 228.0 days (log-rank p = 0.041).

Conclusions: The continuous group tends to benefit in a single center study.