Severe Acute Blood Loss Anemia in Jehovah's Witnesses Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: Single Academic Center Experience.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of severe acute blood loss anemia (ABLA) on postoperative outcomes in Jehovah's Witness (JW) patients undergoing cardiac surgery.

DESIGN: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult JW patients undergoing cardiac surgery requiring cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) between January 1998 and December 2018 at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri.

SETTING: At a single tertiary academic center.

PARTICIPANTS: Patients who were JWs undergoing cardiac surgery requiring CPB.

INTERVENTIONS: Patients were divided into the following 2 groups: JW patients who developed severe ABLA (defined as postoperative hematocrit level <21), and patients who did not develop severe ABLA.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 48 JW patients who underwent cardiac surgery between 2008 and 2018 were identified. Of these patients, 9 (18.8%) developed postoperative severe ABLA, and 39 (81.3%) did not. Severe ABLA was associated with increased postoperative mortality at 30-days, 90-days, and 1-year postoperatively, and a trend toward increased hospital length of stay.

CONCLUSIONS: Severe ABLA after cardiac surgery was associated with higher mortality and a trend toward increased hospital length of stay among JW patients. More data are required to confirm the findings.