Cardiac surgery on Jehova's Witnesses at Instituto Cardiovascular-Hospital Pavia.

Jehovah's Witnesses (J.W.) can undergo successful cardiac operations. We have operated five J.W. patients. Of these patients, two had coronary artery bypass surgery and three had correction of congenital anomalies. These included an atrial septal defect with infundibular pulmonic stenosis, a tetralogy of Fallot and a patient with a ventricular septal defect. Our treatment protocol includes a meticulous surgery, the use of early heparinization to collect all shed blood into the pump oxygenator, observation in the operating room for early exploration if the patient bleeds and administration of iron preparations. Recombinant human erythropoietin, although available and in our treatment protocol, has not been used yet. All patients survived the operation and left the hospital with an excellent hemoglobin and hematocrit. The length of stay varied from 7 to 15 days.