JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

Extreme anemia in an injured Jehovah's Witness: a test of our understanding of the physiology of severe anemia and the threshold for blood transfusion. J Trauma. 2009 Jul;67(1):E11-3. No abstract available.

Endovascular treatment of a superior mesenteric artery embolism in a high-risk Jehovah's WitnessJ Vasc Surg. 2009 Apr;49(4):1050-2. Case report

Results of open heart surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses patients. J Cardiovasc Surg (Torino). 2009 Apr;50(2):247-50.The decrease of hematocrit serum levels is significantly characterizing the postoperative period of open heart surgery in JW. In patients undergoing CABG without CPB and in patients undergoing isolated valve replacement, decrease of hematocrit serum levels was lowest. Therefore, these techniques should be considered for first choice when appropriate. Furthermore, highly normal preoperative hematocrit serum levels and a meticulous surgical technique remain the mainstay of therapy in these patients.

Autologous stem cell transplants in Jehovah's Witnesses. Bone Marrow Transplant. 2009 Mar 23. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available.

Repair of Type A Dissection in a Jehovah's Witness With Prior Cardiac Operation.Ann Thorac Surg. 2009 Jan;87(1):289-90. Case report

Emergency Laparoscopic Splenectomy for Splenic Trauma in a Jehovah's Witness Patient. Surg Laparosc Endosc Percutan Tech. 2008 Dec;18(6):626-30. Case report

Management of hemorrhagic shock when blood is not an option. J Clin Anesth. 2008 Nov 17. [Epub ahead of print] .Case report

Recombinant Human Erythropoietin Therapy in Critically Ill Jehovah's Witnesses.

Pharmacotherapy. 2008 Nov;28(11):1383-90. Review

Blood conservation techniques in spinal deformity surgery: a retrospective review of patients refusing blood transfusion.

Spine. 2008 Oct 1;33(21):2310-5. All 19 patients were identified through the "Bloodless Surgery Program." Hypotensive anesthesia, hemodilution, and cell saver was employed for all 19 cases. Erythropoietin with supplemental iron was used in 15 patients. Aprotinin was used in 3 patients. These blood conservation techniques allow satisfactory completion of deformity surgery on those patients not willing to be transfused and without major anesthetic or medical complications.

Lessons learned from the outcome of bloodless emergency laparotomies on Jehovah's Witness women presenting in the extremis with ruptured uterus.

Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2008 Aug 2. [Epub ahead of print] Patients who are in haemorrhagic shock from ruptured uterus and refuse blood transfusion can still be salvaged in a low resource setting. The study adds evidence that major operative procedures can be carried out on Jehovah's Witness patients without blood transfusions or blood products.

Anesthesia management of a Jehovah's Witness patient with pheochromocytoma undergoing off pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery--acase report.

Middle East J Anesthesiol. 2008 Jun;19(5):1099-104. Case report

The Contemporary Approach to the Care of Jehovah's Witnesses.

J Trauma. 2008 Jun 19. [Epub ahead of print] Review

Management of Jehovah's Witnesses in otolaryngology, head and neck surgery.

Am J Otolaryngol. 2008 July - August;29(4):270-278.. 2008 July - August;29(4):270-278. Epub 2008 Mar 19. Review

Lessons from a Jehovah's Witness with 5q- syndrome: role of systemic immunosuppression and kinetics of recovery with lenalidomide from a life threatening anaemia.

Br J Haematol. 2008 May 28. [Epub ahead of print] No abstract available. Case report

Complex Cardiac Surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses With Chronic Renal Failure.

J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2008 Jun;22(3):453-4. Epub 2007 Jun 15. Case report. No abstract available.

Extensive lower limb injuries in a child complicated by complex pain management and profound anemia.

Paediatr Anaesth. 2008 May 12. [Epub ahead of print] Case report. Effective pain management and control of anxiety can be achieved by a multi-modal approach in young children. Profound anemia was treated without transfusion and without compromise of tissue healing.

Thoraco-abdominal aneurysm repair in a Jehovah's Witness: maximising blood conservation.

Perfusion. 2007 Sep;22(5):363-4.Case report

Recombinant factor VIIa for major obstetric haemorrhage in a Jehovah's Witness.

Int J Obstet Anesth. 2008 Apr;17(2):193-4. Epub 2008 Mar 4. No abstract available.

Successful autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation in a Jehovah's Witness with multiple myeloma: review of literature and recommendations for high-dose chemotherapy without support of allogeneic blood products.

Int J Hematol. 2008 Mar 4; [Epub ahead of print] Allogeneic blood product free transplantation is a feasible procedure that can be offered to the patients belonging to distinct religious groups refusing allogeneic blood products as Jehova s Witnesses and patients presenting other contraindications for transfusions.

Acute normovolemic hemodilution, intraoperative cell salvage and PulseCO hemodynamic monitoring in a Jehovah's Witness with placenta percreta.

Int J Obstet Anesth. 2008 Feb 26; [Epub ahead of print] Using PulseCO technology for continuous hemodynamic monitoring, preoperative acute normovolemic hemodilution and intraoperative cell salvage were used resulting in a successful cesarean hysterectomy with a 5500-mL estimated blood loss. The PulseCO system provides continuous, real-time hemodynamic data by applying pulse power analysis to the arterial pressure waveform. These techniques may be particularly useful in managing patients who refuse blood products and/or in whom the baseline hemoglobin is suboptimal.

Reoperative cardiac surgery in Jehovah's witness patients with patent internal thoracic artery grafts: how far can we push the envelope?

Heart Surg Forum. 2008;11(1):E32-3. Successful reoperative cardiac surgery in JW patients requires preoperative preparation using a multidisciplinary team approach and flexible operative planning.

SCT in Jehovah's Witnesses: the bloodless transplant.

Bone Marrow Transplant. 2008 Feb 4; [Epub ahead of print] Auto-SCT and Allo-SCT are procedures conventionally associated with intensive transfusion support. This dependence has historically prevented SCT in individuals with religious or personal objections to transfusion. More recently, a growing body of literature supports the feasibility of 'bloodless transplants': SCT without the transfusion of RBCs, plts or plasma. It is possible to perform 'bloodless' autologous or reduced-intensity allogeneic transplants in properly selected patients. Many of these techniques, learned and refined in Jehovah's Witnesses, may help reduce bleeding and transfusion requirements in the general transplant population

Successful management of a Jehovah's Witness with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura unwilling to be treated with therapeutic plasma exchange.

Recombinant activated factor VII for a warfarinised Jehovah's Witness with an acute subdural haematoma.
J Clin Neurosci. 2007 Aug 14; [Epub ahead of print]. Case report.

Bloodless Cardiac Surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses: Outcomes Compared With a Control Group.
Rev Esp Cardiol. 2007 Jul;60(7):727-731. English, Spanish. Jehovah's Witnesses experienced significantly less bleeding, were intubated for fewer hours, and had shorter stays in both intensive care and the hospital. There was no difference in the rate of postoperative complications or mortality.

Beriplex P/N: an alternative to fresh frozen plasma in severe haemorrhage.
Anaesthesia. 2007 Aug;62(8):832-4. Case report on the use of Beriplex (a concentrate of factors II, VII, IX and X) in a Jehovah's Witness for control of emergency haemorrhage and coagulopathy.

Perioperative management of four anaemic female Jehovah's Witnesses undergoing urgent complex cardiac surgery.
Br J Anaesth. 2007 Jun 27; [Epub ahead of print] This report describes the management of four high-risk anaemic female patients undergoing urgent complex cardiac surgery. In these Jehovah's Witness patients, strict application of a comprehensive blood-sparing protocol permitted safe avoidance of allogeneic transfusions.

Complete Remission Induced by Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin in a Jehovah's Witness Patient with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia.
Int J Hematol. 2007 Jun;85(5):418-20. Case report

Right trisectionectomy of the liver for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma with bile duct invasion in a Jehovah's Witness.
J Hepatobiliary Pancreat Surg. 2007;14(3):312-7. A multidisciplinary preparation was crucial in obtaining this positive outcome. Importantly, bloodless liver transection techniques with inflow clamping, meticulous dissection, and hemostasis should be utilized for major hepatectomy in a Jehovah's Witness. The success of this case may alert clinicians to consider a hepatectomy as a possible option in the treatment of ICC in a Jehovah's Witness.

Complex liver resection for a large intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma in a Jehovah's witness: A strategy to avoid transfusion.
J Surg Oncol. 2007 Apr 18; [Epub ahead of print] Case report. This approach could be a safe alternative for use in all patients with complex liver tumor, regardless of their religious beliefs, to reduce the risks and cost associated with blood transfusion.

The Administration of Polymerized Human Hemoglobin (Pyridoxylated) to a Jehovah's Witness After Submyeloablative Stem Cell Transplantation Complicated by Delayed Graft Failure.
Compr Ther. 2006 Fall;32(3):172-5. Case report

Transfusion-Free Cardiac Reoperation in an 11-kg Jehovah's Witness Child by Use of a Minimized Cardiopulmonary Bypass Circuit.
Tex Heart Inst J. 2007;34(1):108-11. Case report

What Is Blood and What Is Not? Caring for the Jehovah's Witness Patient Undergoing Cardiac Surgery.
Anesth Analg. 2007 Apr;104(4):753-4. No abstract available.

Coagulopathy After Cardiopulmonary Bypass in Jehovah's Witness Patients: Management of Two Cases Using Fractionated Components and Factor VIIa.
Anesth Analg. 2007 Apr;104(4):763-5. Processed blood fractions can be a valuable adjuvant to drugs when treating bleeding in JW patients.

[Clinical aspects of packed red cell transfusion : Lessons learned from Jehovah's Witnesses?]
Anaesthesist. 2007 Mar 14; [Epub ahead of print] German. Review

The care of a child with multiple trauma and severe anemia who was a Jehovah's Witness.
Hematology. 2006 Jun;11(3):187-91. Case report

Resection of a large atrial hemangioma using a bloodless surgical technique: a case report.
Heart Surg Forum. 2007;10(1):E87-9. Case report

Living related donor nephrectomy in transfusion refusing donors.
Transpl Int. 2007 Feb 19; [Epub ahead of print] Precautionary blood conservation methods allow the informed and consenting transfusion-refusing individual to donate a kidney with acceptable risk and without compromise to donor or graft outcomes.

Comparisons of cardiac surgery outcomes in Jehovah's versus Non-Jehovah's Witnesses.
Am J Cardiol. 2006 Nov 1;98(9):1223-5. Epub 2006 Sep 7. Cardiac surgery in Jehovah's Witnesses is associated with clinical outcomes comparable to those of non-Jehovah's Witnesses by adhering to blood conservation protocols.