3.3 Relationship of pressure-dimension index with short and long term outcomes
There were no significant differences between the tertiles in terms of probable or definitive RVF, but patients with a higher PDI had a significantly higher short-term mortality or the composite of mortality and definitive RVF a postoperative day 15 as compared to other PDI tertiles (Table 2). Accordingly, survival to postoperative day 15 (log-rank p=0.014) and survival free of definitive RVF to postoperative day 15 (log-rank p=0.021) were significantly different between groups, with the latter mainly driven by mortality (Figure 2A and 2B). On multivariate analysis, PDI was an independent predictor of short-term mortality or composite short term mortality or definitive right ventricular failure (Table 3). PDI was not found as a significant determinant of long-term mortality (log-rank p=0.08), although the lowest mortality rate as well as highest mean survival was seen in the second tertile (mortality 29.7%, mean estimated survival 1289 days) (Figure 3).