Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40502943›Full record

ArticleEuropean journal of case reports in internal medicine2025

Veno-Venous ECMO Support in the Management of a Jehovah's Witness with Severe COVID-19: A Case Report and Literature Review.

Mohamed Qandil, Rabee Tawel, Ans Alamami, Hani Jaouni, Ibrahim Fawzy Hassan, Ayman El-Menyar, Ahmed Labib Shehatta

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Article in European journal of case reports in internal medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Mohamed QandilDepartment of Medicine, Medical Education, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), Doha, Qatar.
Rabee TawelDepartment of Medicine, Hamad General Hospital, HMC, Doha, Qatar.
Ans AlamamiDepartment of Medicine, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Hamad General Hospital, HMC, Doha, Qatar.
Hani JaouniDepartment of Medicine, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Hamad General Hospital, HMC, Doha, Qatar.
Ibrahim Fawzy HassanDepartment of Medicine, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Hamad General Hospital, HMC, Doha, Qatar.
Ayman El-MenyarDepartment of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar.
Ahmed Labib ShehattaDepartment of Medicine, Medical Intensive Care Unit, Hamad General Hospital, HMC, Doha, Qatar.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection can lead to severe acute respiratory syndrome for which extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) could be used in selected cases. Most Jehovah's witnesses (JWs) do not accept transfusion of blood and/or blood products. The use of ECMO for the management of JWs during the pandemic was challenging. Case report: We present a case of a JW with severe COVID-19 infection and multiple organ failure necessitating ECMO support for 20 days. We discuss the management challenges in patients who do not accept blood transfusions. A significant drop in the patient's haemoglobin and platelet count was observed throughout ECMO duration. An anti-coagulation-free ECMO circuit was maintained, and we did not observe any major circuit or patient complications. Conclusion: Management strategies to minimize blood loss, avoid bleeding, augment haemoglobin production, maintain ECMO circuit integrity without systemic anticoagulation, and reduce blood loss during ECMO decannulation are helpful in the management of JW followers on ECMO. We recommend treatment in such a situation at experienced centres with the involvement of a haematologist within an interprofessional team. LEARNING POINTS: Management of patients who are Jehovah's witnesses, who do not accept blood transfusion is challenging.Conservative transfusion strategies are feasible on selected patients supported by extracorporeal membrane oxygenation.Transfusion thresholds should be dynamic and reviewed daily.Mitigation of blood loss, rationalization of blood tests, and anticoagulation help reduce the need for transfusion.Transfusion targets and guidelines need revision, and it is best to adopt patient-specific targets tailored to each patient's needs.

Indexed as

COVID-19Jehovah’s Witnesstransfusionveno-venous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation

Identifiers

PMID40502943
PMCPMC12151565

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.