Characteristics of early pleural effusions after orthotopic heart transplantation: comparison with coronary artery bypass graft surgery

Abstract

Pleural effusions appearing within the first 30 postoperative days following coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) are classified as early and believed to be directly related to the surgery. The characteristics of such effusions are well-described. Orthotopic heart transplantation is also known to be complicated by pleural effusions; however, their characteristics have not been systematically reported. We assessed the features of early postoperative pleural effusions after heart transplantation and compared them to those of early effusions following CABG.

Keywords

• coronary artery bypass grafting
• heart transplantation
• pleural effusion