Abstract
Background and aims To investigate the factors associated with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-related pericardial effusion/cardiac tamponade and its long-term outcome in Chinese patients.
Methods Medical records of 690 SLE patients who admitted in Chang Gung Medical Centre from 2005 to 2012 were reviewed.
Results The mean ages at onset and at admission were 36.3±16.4 years and 40.8±16.0 years, respectively. Of the 690 patients, 113 (16.4%) had SLE-related pericardial effusion. Cardiac tamponade developed in 9.7% (11 of 113) patients with pericardial effusion or in 1.5% (11 of 690) of SLE patients. Moreover, 4 of the 11 patients represented with cardiac tamponade as initial presentation of SLE. Cox regression analysis indicated that age at admission >50 years (HR 3.38, 95% CI 2.06–5.55, p<0.001), pericarditis (HR 1.70, 95% CI 1.00–2.90, p=0.049), pleuritis (HR 2.30, 95% CI 1.43–3.72, p=0.001), leukopenia (HR 1.90, 95% CI 1.11–3.24, p=0.019), thrombocytopenia (HR 3.28, 95% CI 1.82–5.89, p<0.001), and seizure (HR 1.84, 95% CI 1.12–3.00, p=0.016) were associated with mortality in SLE. The mortality rate was higher in the pericardial effusion group (30.1%; 34/113) than in the non-pericardial effusion group (11.3%; 65/577; p<0.001)The cumulative survival rate of the non-pericardial effusion group was 96.9%, 95.8%, 93.6%, and 87.1% at 1 year, 2 years, 5 years and 10 years; which were 89.0%, 86.0%, 78.4%, and 69.6%, respectively, in the pericardial effusion group.
Conclusions This study underlines the prevalence and outcome of pericardial
effusion/cardiac tamponade in SLE, which is significant related to patient survival.
