United States: Blood transfusion after a heart attack could help anemia patients if the blood transfusion process is strictly monitored.
Another recent evidence review published in the medical journal NEJM Evidence found that anemic patients actually slightly reduced their risk of death in the six months after a heart attack if given more transfusions, as reported by HealthDay.
Expert Insights
Lead researcher Dr. Jeffrey Carson, chair of general internal medicine at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, stated in a news release from the college that “the results of this analysis show that giving more blood to anemic patients with heart attacks can save lives at six months.”
Carson further noted that anemia is a frequent problem among patients admitted to a hospital due to heart attack. In anemia, a person’s blood can not effectively supply the other parts of the body with oxygen as required.
Some doctors have suggested that blood transfusions may elevate the flow of oxygen to the heart and consequently the chances of the heart attack patients might rise, according to Carson.
However, such transfusions may also potentially fuel the possibility of being infected or having fluid retention in such patients.
Balancing Risks and Benefits of Transfusions
For this new study, the authors combined data from four clinical trials regarding transfusions in the case of heart attacks. The trials were conducted on more than 4,300 patients with a heart attack and another symptom of anemia – low red blood count.

In the trials, fewer blood transfusions were administered to half the patients, while the other half were administered with relatively more.
Key Findings from the Study
Patients who received less blood transfusion showed higher 30-day mortality, with 9.3% of the patients who developed the condition after their heart attack passing on compared to 8.1% of the patients who received more blood transfusion, data reveal.
More particularly, heart-related death within 30 days was 5.5% among patients who received fewer transfusions and 3.7% in those who received more transfusions, according to the study.

In total, the study identified that patients who received more blood transfusions had a 2.4% lower risk of dying or experiencing another heart attack according to the researchers, as reported by HealthDay.
However, the augmented number is not shown as conclusively beneficial in revealing that more transfusions are superior, since the key findings were not statistically significant, authors pointed out.
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