Clinical, laboratory, and echocardiographic features of patients with pericardial effusion in Gaziantep region

Pericardial effusion (PE) is called that increase in the amount of fluid between the pericardium surrounding the heart. PE may be due to primary pericardial diseases, or associated with different clinical situations such as malignancy, chronic renal failure, cardiovascular diseases, infectious diseases. In our study, patients with PE present in the Gaziantep region to evaluate the clinical characteristics and treatment. 132 patients, having PE on transthoracic echocardiography, admitted to the cardiology clinic between January 2010 and January 2011, were retrospectively reviewed data. Background, echocardiography, laboratory findings, and treatment of the patients were recorded. The average age of the patients was 51 ± 17 (17-86) year. It was observed with equal frequency in males and females (66/66). The most common primary complaint of patients with PE were dispne(73.5%). Mild PE (