ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2023
Everyday Cardiac Surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses of Typically Advanced Age: Clinical Outcome and Matched Comparison.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Aortic dissection in a Jehovah's witness: Frozen Elephant Trunk and subsequent 4D flow MRI analysis, a case report.Journal of cardiothoracic surgery · 2026Article
- Bloodless Third Reoperative Multivalvular, Aortic, and Double-Chamber Right Ventricular Surgery in a Jehovah's Witness Patient.JACC. Case reports · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectivesJehovah's Witnesses (JW) reject the transfusion of blood components based on their religious beliefs, even if they are in danger of harm or death. In cardiac surgery, this significantly reduces the margin of safety and leads to ethical conflicts. Informed consent should be carefully documented and the patient's family should be involved. This study aims to compare the postoperative course of JW who underwent major cardiac surgery with a similar population of non-Witnesses (NW). PATIENTS AND
methodsDemographic, procedural, and postoperative data of all consecutive JW who underwent cardiac surgery at our institution were obtained from the records. They were compared with a propensity-score-matched group of NW. Anemic JW were treated with erythropoietin and/or iron as needed. Cardiac surgery was performed by experienced surgeons using median sternotomy and cardiopulmonary bypass. Common blood-sparing techniques were routinely used. Periprocedural morbidity and mortality were statistically evaluated for both groups.
resultsA total of 32 JW and 64 NW were part of the matched dataset, showing no demographic or procedural differences. EPO was used preoperatively in 34.4% and postoperatively in 15.6% of JW but not in NW. Preoperative hemoglobin levels were similar (JW, 8.09 ± 0.99 mmol/L; NW, 8.18 ± 1.06;
conclusionsReal-world data indicate that Jehovah's Witnesses can safely undergo cardiac surgery provided that patients are preconditioned and treated by experienced surgeons who use blood-saving strategies. Postoperative anemia is observed but does not translate into a worse clinical outcome. This is consistent with other studies. Finally, the results of this study suggest that all patients should benefit from optimal pretreatment and blood-sparing strategies in cardiac surgery, not just Jehovah's Witnesses.
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