Journal of Blood Disorders & Transfusion

Luca Weltert

Publications

• Research Article
  Blood-Sparing Heart Surgery in Critically Anaemic Patients Refusing Red Blood Cell Transfusions
  Author(s): Luca Weltert Luca Weltert
  
  Objective: The need for allogenic blood, plasma and platelets is an unresolved dilemma in contemporary surgical practice. There is increasing evidence that transfusions worsen the prognosis and should be avoided as far as possible. Patients refusing transfusion for personal reasons but requiring urgent surgery represent a challenge to maximize blood-sparing strategies. Methods: As the referral hospital for heart surgery in Jehova’s Witnesses in Central Italy, the European Hospital of Rome has developed a multimodal strategy for blood-sparing heart surgery. This strategy has been in use since January 2006 and from early 2010 the protocol has consisted of four points: high-dose preoperative erythropoietin administration; screening and optimization of platelet aggregation and serum coagulation; intraoperative and early postoperative reinf.. View More»
  DOI: 10.4172/2155-9864.S1-009

  Abstract PDF